Archive of Our Own

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Jamie counts up the invites he’s got spread across his dining table.

He’s gotten three in the mail so far, and he knows for sure there are still two on the way. Might be even more if his buddy from Man City finally pops the question.

Five plus weddings over the course of his barely 12 weeks off? He honestly didn’t even know he knew that many single people.

This does present an issue, though.

There’s no way Jamie Tartt can be seen at a wedding without a plus one. He’s got a reputation to maintain, after all. Not to mention that now that he’s barely drinking, trying to get through a whole wedding and reception without someone there to help distract him sounds like torture.

How’s he supposed to find dates to every single one? He’s not seeing anyone, and he certainly doesn’t want to send any of his past hookups the wrong message by inviting them.

He’d made that mistake one time when he was younger. The girl was nice enough, but she clearly did not understand that he wasn’t committing to an exclusive relationship just ‘cause he invited her to one stupid wedding. Took him weeks of avoiding her texts and calls before she finally got the hint.

Okay, maybe he could have been a little more thoughtful about that particular situation. But he was quite the prick back then. Sometimes still is, but he’s trying hard not to be. Or only to be when he’s been told it’s all right.

Still. It’s a lot of weddings.

Looking over the bunch, he knows at least four of them are weddings Roy is likely to be invited to, as well.

He thinks about having to see Roy at those weddings with a date of his own. His stomach twists at the thought. He doesn’t want to examine how much that twisting feels like jealousy, so instead, he starts to form a plan.

Maybe he can convince Roy to be his plus one, at least to the mutual weddings. He already knows he and Roy would have a good time at a wedding together. Beard and Jane got hitched so fast that neither Roy nor Jamie had time to find dates, so they’d ended up spending the whole reception keeping each other company.

Honestly, it was the most fun Jamie has ever had at a wedding. Including the one where he’d hooked up with two bridesmaids in the loo. At the same time.

The more Jamie thinks about it, the more he realizes how much he’d like knowing Roy would have to be by his side all summer. Of course they’d already be seeing each other often – Phoebe has insisted Roy bring Jamie around a bunch while she’s on holiday. And Roy keeps harping on about Jamie keeping up on his training, so he knows there will be regular sessions of that, too.

This is different though. This is almost like...almost like something a little more date-shaped.

He doesn’t have to tell Roy that part, though. Probably ought to keep it to himself.

Yep, yep yep. This is going to be brilliant.

***

“Big Man Roy Kent!”

Roy quickly schools his face to his customary scowl. He can’t let Jamie know about the smile that appeared as soon as he heard his voice.

“Fuck do you want?” Roy growls. Yeah. That sounded the appropriate level of annoyed.

“I’ve got a proposal for you, Coach,” Jamie says as he sidles up next to where Roy is standing at the white board in his office. Roy glances over at him.

“This about me letting you off the hook for training this break? ‘Cause you can fuck right off if it is.”

“Nah, not that at all.” Jamie moves towards Roy’s desk and starts laying out pieces of card stock, disturbing Roy’s very important paper piles, with no regard to his meticulous filing system. The prick.

Roy recognizes what Jamie has when he comes closer. He’s received the same invites himself. If it wouldn’t be hypocritical of Roy “Dark-Heather-Charcoal” Kent, he’d make fun of just how many shades of white there possibly could be for wedding invites.

“The fuck is this then?” he asks when it looks like Jamie has them laid out just the way he wants.

“Wedding invites, Coach.”

“Yeah, I know, you numpty. Why the fuck are they here?”

“Well, I were thinking,” Jamie starts to say.

“Scary, that.”

Jamie scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“As I was saying, I were thinking,” he glances at Roy to make sure he won’t be interrupted this time. Roy gestures for him to continue.

“You and me, we’re probably invited to a lot of the same weddings, yeah?”

Roy nods. There is a lot of overlap in their social circles, especially these days.

“So, since I’m not seeing anyone, and I don’t think you are neither, what about us being each other’s plus ones?”

Roy blinks. That’s actually a really good idea.

He’d been trying hard not to think about having to find dates to any of these weddings. Obviously he knows it’s not a requirement to bring someone to a wedding. He also knows that of the people attending, the ones his age and in his phase of life are almost all in settled relationships.

Hell, he’d always assumed he’d be a settled relationship by this time. He’s really not a believer in marriage, per se, but knowing there’s someone in his corner no matter what has always been something he’s wanted. Commitment and partnership. A proper team.

He thinks of Keeley for just a moment before brushing the thought aside. He no longer feels pain when he thinks of their relationship. They make very good friends, now, but she had been one of the only people he’d ever seriously considered settling down with.

Jamie is looking at him hopefully.

“Not to mention, if we’re being each other’s plus one, it will be two less people and that’ll save the couple some money.”

“Most of these fuckers are probably rich. I don’t give a fuck about saving them money.”

Jamie looks disappointed at this, sad that his really good point had apparently not been as good as he thought.

Roy doesn’t like when Jamie is sad.

“Fucking...fine,” Roy says.

Jamie’s whole face transforms when he smiles.

“Yeah? Mint!”

“On one condition,” Roy adds.

Jamie’s face starts to fall, but he’s still holding on to a bit of that smile.

“Got two other weddings you aren’t invited to. You have to come to those with me, too.”

Jamie immediately beams, the same way he had when Roy finally let him up to see his trophy room.

“Course, Roy. I’d be honored. I got one of them, too. Does the deal work both ways?”

Roy rolls his eyes at Jamie, mostly out of habit, but he nods. He’s actually extremely relieved he’s got one less thing to worry about. Plus this way he knows he’ll be able to keep an eye on Jamie’s behavior at all these wedding receptions. It’s a long time since Jamie has done anything warranting Roy’s vigilance, but it’s much easier to tell himself that’s the reason he’s glad they’ll be together. It’s got nothing to do with them enjoying being around each other.

Jamie reaches into his bumbag and pulls out a small calendar book.

“Gotta make this official, like.”

Roy is a little surprised Jamie uses a paper calendar. Roy feels the same way about planners as he does about watches – why does he need either when he’s got a phone? He does have to admit it’s charming that Jamie is doing this old school though.

Roy dutifully takes out his phone and opens it to May.

“Okay, we don’t have much time, since Jeff’s wedding is next weekend, but I think that’s our first one. I’m not gonna have time to get a new suit. Serves him right for sending out the invites so late, right?”

Of course Jamie would think not being able to see him in a new suit would be some sort of punishment for the other wedding attendees.

Roy just grunts, then follows along as Jamie picks up invite after invite, adding the dates to his calendar. Christ, it really is a lot of weddings.

“What about yours, Coach?’ Jamie asks when they’ve gone through all the invitations.

“Don’t have the dates fucking memorized. You free for dinner tonight?” Roy asks.

“Yep!”

“Okay, come round at 7. I’ll cook. Bring your little fucking calendar with you.”

Jamie smiles and turns to leave, but not before throwing his arm around Roy’s shoulders and giving him a little half hug. Roy lets him hang on for a moment before he shrugs him off.

“See ya at 7, Coach!”

He’s out the door, whistling a tune as he makes his way up the hall to the carpark.

Roy lets himself think about a summer of weddings and receptions stretching out in front of him. He can’t say he’s mad about getting to spend more time with Jamie. He sometimes can’t believe just how good of friends they’ve become. Best friends, if Phoebe is to be believed.

Yeah, this might just be fun.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Jamie truly is annoyed Jeff hadn’t left enough time for him to work with his tailor on the perfect suit. He knows how good he looks when he’s all dolled up. Although he’s not really trying to impress a date, he wouldn’t mind leaving the possibility open for Roy to admire him.

So he likes to be admired, not a big deal, is it?

The other thing that was kind of a bummer about Jeff’s wedding is that Roy said they should just meet there. Jamie doesn’t love this, because he’d wanted to be able to make an entrance together. He tamps down his disappointment. After all, they’ve got enough weddings this summer, and Jamie is confident in his ability to wear Roy down with the right combination of persuasion, pouting, and puppy-dog eyes. After all, that’s how Jamie netted himself a weekly invitation to Roy’s for dinner all last season.

When Jamie pulls into the car park at the church, he’s thrilled to see Roy waiting for him by the G-wagon. Guess they’ll get to make an entrance after all.

And honestly, what an entrance it will be. Despite Roy sticking to his black-on-black-on-black color palette, he’s still stunning. Since it’s the off season, he’s been letting his hair grow out, so there’s more curl than usual. The suit he’s wearing is impeccably tailored, and as the breeze picks up, Jamie can see there are dark teal details in the lining of the jacket.

Jamie parks. After checking his reflection in the rear view mirror, he makes his way out of the car and over to Roy.

“Alright, mate?”

“You’re late.”

Jamie scoffs at that, shaking his head.

“I’m ten minutes early, Coach. What do you mean I’m late? Plus you know weddings literally never start on time.”

“We’re going to get shit seats in a shit part of the church and have a shit view,” Roy growls.

He grabs Jamie’s arm and starts pulling him towards the entrance, where the rest of the team is milling about. Jamie doesn’t know what Roy’s all worried about. If the whole team is still out here, that means there are loads of seats inside for them to choose from.

Roy keeps pulling Jamie, right past his teammates, not pausing until he greets Rebecca and Keeley, who are standing just inside the entrance. The three of them start chatting about Jeff and Madison, while Jamie takes a moment to look around.

The flower arrangements are a little vanilla for Jamie’s taste, but it’s not his wedding, so he’ll give them a pass. Jeff’s fiancee probably spent a lot of time picking out the perfect flowers for her special day. That’s kind of a nice thought. He wonders how they smell.

He leans down to try and get a whiff, but ends up just taking in a lung full of Roy’s cologne.

Christ, he smells good.

Jamie needs to think of something else. Won’t do to get all twisted up not only about how amazing Roy looks in his suit, but also how good he smells.

Roy once again starts pulling his arm to get him moving. He’s liable to pull it right out of the socket if he’s not careful. Jamie allows himself to be pulled, though. Why would he resist when it means Roy is keeping Jamie close?

Evidently the not-shit seats Roy decides on are near the front on the aisle. Grooms side, of course. Jamie gestures for Roy to sit on the outside, whispering that he’ll be able to stretch out his bum knee if he needs to. Roy gives him a little smile. It’s nice.

Rebecca and Keeley decide to sit in the same row as Roy and Jamie. That’s nice, too. They both smell so good that Jamie can concentrate on them instead of Roy.

“Are you and Roy here together?” Keeley asks in a low tone. Jamie tries not to look guilty. He didn’t really think that it might be weird for Keeley to see Roy with someone else at all these weddings. She doesn’t look upset, though. She looks excited, more like.

“Um, not really. But kind of?”

He’s saved from having to go into any more detail by Jeff appearing from the side of the church to stand by the minister. Once he’s there, everything else happens pretty quickly.

At one point when Jeff is reciting his vows, Jamie notices Roy keeps clearing his throat and subtly wiping his eyes.

Is Roy Kent a wedding crier?

Jamie of a few years ago would have absolutely taken this opportunity to take the piss. Instead, he just passes Roy a handkerchief. His mummy always cries at weddings, so Jamie is used to being prepared. Roy looks at him in surprise and maybe a bit of embarrassment, but he takes the hanky and dabs at his eyes.

Thankfully the ceremony doesn’t last too long.

The reception is right next to the church. They’ve got a massive tent set up, like what they do with Bake Off, so it’s real convenient to get there. Good thing, too. Jamie doesn’t want Roy to have to walk too far with his knee. It seems okay today, but still, doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on it. Roy is too pig-headed to allow himself any accommodations. Luckily, Jamie is here to force him if necessary.

The food is decent and the booze is absolutely flowing, so in no time, most of the guests are tipsy if not flat out drunk. Roy has been steadily sipping his scotch, which always makes him mellow. If Jamie wasn’t afraid of liver damage, he might try and keep Roy on a steady diet of single malt.

Of course, Jamie isn’t drinking anything beyond the half-filled flute of champagne during the toasts. It’s a good thing, because after a few hours of chatting and socializing, he can tell Roy is wearing down. Wearing down, but not yet sobering up. Time for them to take their leave.

It just makes sense for Jamie to fish Roy’s keys out of his pocket and load him into the passenger seat of the G-wagon. He’s mildly surprised that Roy only puts up a token protest about this turn of events. Usually Roy would rather die than let someone else drive his car. This time, though, he let’s Jamie usher him into his seat and even asks for help when he can’t seem to figure out how to get the seat belt buckled.

Jamie is trying not to giggle at how adorable Roy is being. Even in his relaxed state, Jamie knows he wouldn’t take kindly to being laughed at, and there’s no way Jamie would try and explain why he was actually giggling.

Jamie drives carefully on the way to Roy’s house. Wants to make sure Roy knows he is responsible and trustworthy. He’s making a mental list of what he needs to do once he’s got Roy home – fill up several water bottles and grab some pain pills. Make sure Roy actually takes the pain pills. Get him out of his suit and into his pajamas.

He swallows at that last thought. It’s fine. Roy isn’t that far gone. Jamie is sure if he just lays out the clothes, Roy will be able to handle himself.

Since it is quite late, and he left his car in the church carpark, Jamie decides he’ll stay over in the guest room. That way Roy can run him to pick his car up whenever they are both awake tomorrow. He can borrow some of Roy’s clothes. Not the first time they’ve shared clothes.

He makes it to Roy’s without incident. Roy has been chatting his ear off the whole drive – mellow Roy is also chatty Roy, which is another reason Jamie likes being around him when he’s like this.

“All right, big man. Let’s get you into bed, yeah?” Jamie has his arm around Roy’s waist, trying to steady him. Roy just nods and starts leading them up the hall to his bedroom. Jamie is glad Roy’s room isn’t on an upper level.

In less than 15 minutes, he’s got Roy in pajamas with his knee propped up and two glasses of water down his hatch. Jamie didn’t even have to fight him on taking the medicine. Small miracle, that.

He turns down the lights and makes his way out of the room. Just as he’s about to get to the hallway, he hears Roy call out.

“Jamie.”

“Yeah?” Jamie turns to look at Roy. He’s laying on his back with his eyes closed, so Jamie lets his eyes rove up and down his body.

“Thanks. You’re a, um, a fucking good friend.”

Jesus. Jamie wishes there was a guarantee Roy would remember saying that in the morning. Not only admitting out loud they’re friends, but even thanking him?

“It’s no trouble, Roy. Sleep well, yeah?”

Jamie leaves the door open just crack before making his way to the guest room.

Once he’s in bed, he realizes it’s not going to be hard to convince Roy they should be traveling to these weddings together. He’ll just offer to be the sober driver and bish-bash-bosh, they’re all set.

One wedding down. Six more to go.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Roy isn’t even sure why he and Jamie are invited to this wedding. Or maybe it’s more like he’s not sure why they RSVP’d. When the invite came in, Roy didn’t even recognize the name: Jeremy Landers. It hadn’t been until he Beard had asked if he’d gotten the invitation that he realized it was one of the lads from the Crown and Anchor Ted had invited to observe training his last season at Richmond.

Roy had closed practice after he took over, but he still saw the lads at the matches regularly and even occasionally at their away games, if they were in London. He has to admit their loyalty and enthusiasm had earned them a special place in Roy’s heart. It had been the same when he’d been playing. There are some fans that just make an impact and you can’t help but be happy to have them on your side.

He realizes that for the second half of the last season, he’d only been seeing the tall one and the little one – Paul and Baz – at most of the home matches. Jeremy only came around every third or fourth one. Perhaps this is why. Prepping for a wedding takes a lot of work, as does a relationship, so it makes sense he wouldn’t be able to be with his mates as much.

So maybe it’s a feeling of gratitude that had him returning his card with “Yes, I will attend” marked. He knows it’s likely to cause a bit of a stir for both him and Jamie to be there, but he also has to respect the balls it took for the lad to invite them in the first place.

The day of the wedding arrives and Roy has his most casual suit and his dopp kit ready to go by the door.

After Goodman’s wedding, he had to concede that Jamie had a point about them arriving together. He liked the idea he wouldn’t have to worry about finding parking or having one too many drinks or any of that. Jamie promised he’d take care of all of it.

The only annoyance is Jamie insisted they get ready together. Roy put up a bit of a fight, because why couldn’t they just meet up when they were ready to go? That made Jamie look sad and as previously established, Roy hates to make Jamie sad, so he’d reluctantly agreed to it.

Then they had to negotiate about whose house they were going to get ready at. Roy said his house was better because it had more space for them to spread out and he knows he can make his tea exactly the way he likes it. Jamie said it made more sense for Roy to come to his, because Roy has exactly three steps to his routine (shower, trim and oil his beard, get dressed) and Jamie has at least 20, each requiring different products. He started to list them all off, but Roy shut that down. He already knows far too much about Jamie’s skincare routine.

For some reason, probably having to do with the aforementioned skincare, Jamie also needs 2 hours to get ready. So at half-ten, Roy heads over to Jamie’s to make sure they have plenty of time to arrive for the 2pm wedding.

Roy cannot believe the shit he’s putting up with.

Although to be fair, after Jeff’s wedding, Roy is ready to acknowledge that Jamie being his plus one has a lot of advantages. He’d kept Roy entertained, had ensured he always had his drink topped up, and had ushered Roy home before he’d even been fully aware he was ready to go.

Roy isn’t planning to need to be tucked in like he had last time, but it was really sweet that Jamie had been willing to go to that trouble. If it makes him happy to have Roy there while he’s getting ready, then it’s the least Roy can do.

That’s what he’s reminding himself of at the moment, at any rate.

When Jamie had said they should get ready together, he’d assumed that meant at the same time in separate rooms. Instead, Jamie had shown him the space he’d cleared on the counter in the master bathroom for Roy to use, complete with fresh towels and a candle burning in a scent Roy had mentioned he liked. He also took Roy’s suit out of the garment bag and hung it on the wardrobe to prevent it from getting too wrinkled. He keeps asking if Roy needs anything, a drink, some lip balm, a spritz of his new cologne.

Roy thinks Jamie’s nervous fussing should annoy him but it really doesn’t. He finds it kind of endearing, actually.

They’ve been friends for awhile, but every now and again, Roy can tell that Jamie gets overwhelmed at the fact he’s got “The Roy Kent” in his home. It’s flattering. The fact that Jamie has seen Roy at pretty much his worst but still has a little of that hero worship inside of him is a testament to Jamie’s sense of loyalty far more than Roy’s worthiness of it.

After what feels like ages, Jamie finally stands before Roy.

“Well, what do ya think?” Jamie asks, almost shyly.

Roy takes time to look him up and down. They’d both agreed that this wedding being what it is, they really didn’t need to pull out any stops. Might be better if they didn’t in fact. Don’t want to draw any attention to them being rich fucking wankers. To that end, Jamie is wearing some nicely tailored trousers and matching vest with a robin’s-egg blue shirt tucked in and open at the collar. His sleeves are rolled up and he’s wearing his usual rings, along with a necklace and a cuff bracelet. He looks good, casual but still nice.

Roy finishes his perusal and nods. Jamie scoffs at him.

“That’s it? I manage to strike the perfect balance of posh but not too posh while still looking fit as fuck, and all I get is a nod? Come on, man, you can do better than that, yeah?”

Roy growls at him. He knows Jamie is just teasing. Still, he can be nice when he wants to.

“You look good. Now can we go?’”

“See? That weren’t so hard, now was it, mate?” Jamie grins at him. “Let’s go. You want me to drive your car or mine?”

Roy thinks about it for a minute. Normally he absolutely wouldn’t let Jamie drive the wagon, but he did fine when he brought Roy home last weekend. Plus it’s easier for Roy to get in and out of his rig.

In reply he just chucks his keys over to Jamie. Fucker manages to catch them easily even though he clearly wasn’t prepared. Good reflexes on that one.

It doesn’t occur to Roy that he could have been the one driving to the event until they are pulling in. Whatever. Jamie did just fine.

Roy was right about the two of them being a distraction, but the absolute glee on the faces of Jeremy, Paul, and Baz when they notice them approaching the green where the ceremony is taking place is worth it.

He’s not even a little surprised when he sees Beard up front acting as officiant. Of course he’s licensed to perform weddings. Luckily for all of them, he’s succinct and to the point. Jamie leans over and whispers in Roy’s ear, wondering how long things would take if it was Ted up there instead of Beard. Roy just chuckles under his breath. God that would be a fucking exhausting ceremony, full of pop culture references no one gets. Ted’s good at a lot of things, but getting to the point is not one of them.

The reception is at the Crown and Anchor. Mae had closed the whole place down in order to host the party. Roy notices Jamie chatting with her and then passing over a large stack of notes. Mae beams at him, then reaches across the bar and pats his cheek.

“Cheers. What was that about?” Roy asks when Jamie brings him a pint.

“What? Oh just chatting with Mae. She’s a riot.” Jamie’s not making eye contact with Roy.

“No, I mean that pile of notes. Know this beer didn’t cost that much.”

Jamie clears his throat. Roy is determined to wait him out.

“Well, it’s just that I know those lads can’t possibly be making that much money. And Mae shut this whole place down. That’s a whole day of customers she’s losing out on. Just thought I could help soften the blow for her.”

Roy scrunches his forehead. He’s surprised. Roy certainly hadn’t thought about that at all.

Jamie’s looking at Roy like he’s trying to decide what Roy thinks about what he just said. Roy gives him a half smile and a nod, same as he does when Jamie pulls off a particularly challenging play during training. This gets him a full blown grin from Jamie.

“Good lad,” he adds on, just to see Jamie’s reaction. Jamie looks down, maybe a little embarrassed, because he blushes. Interesting.

“Thanks, coach.”

Roy sticks to just a couple beers, so he’s not even tipsy by the time they are leaving. Jamie holds the keys out towards Roy, but Roy waves him off. Might as well take full advantage of the Jamie Tartt chauffeur experience.

It’s not very late when they get back to Jamie’s and Roy still has to grab the stuff he’d left there. Jamie asks if he wants to watch something, and Roy figures why not.

They stay up way too late and when Jamie offers up his guest room, Roy accepts. Might as well since Jamie’d stayed over at his last time.

Once Roy is settled, he thinks about the night and how nice it was to be there with Jamie. Didn’t feel bored once, which is great. He’s honestly looking forward to more of these things.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Wedding number three is another one they’ve both been invited to. Laughing Liam from HR and his beautiful bride-to-be Victoria are evidently big Star Wars fans.

Like really big. Massive, in fact. So big, they are having a Star Wars-themed wedding.

Costumes are not required but highly encouraged.

Jamie had assumed he’d need to really sell Roy on the idea of getting dressed up. He’d mentally prepared all his arguments for why it was a good idea:

#1. Costumes are Fun

#2. …

Okay, so he didn’t actually have that many arguments. But something being fun should be reason enough to do it, right?

Turns out he didn’t even need his single argument to convince Roy. In fact, when he got to Roy’s house for dinner, he found him in one of the seldom used guest rooms, deep in the closet, evidently pulling out several Star Wars costumes he already owned.

“Coach, why do you have all this?” Jamie asks as he takes a pile of clothes and accessories from Roy and starts spreading them out on the bed.

“What?” Roy sounds muffled or like he’s replying from very far away. How big are the closets in his posh house anyway? Is he gonna end up in Narnia?

Roy finally emerges with what looks like a storm trooper helmet and a gun holster of some sort.

“I mean, why do you, Chelsea Legend Roy Kent, have what looks like the entire costume department from these films?” Jamie picks up a long cloak-looking thing, running his fingers along the lining.

“This is nice, shit, too, Roy. Like proper quality. Just didn’t expect it, ya know?”

“I’ll have you know, you prick, that liking fucking Star Wars isn’t fucking weird, all right?” Roy is starting to look less excited than he did, and more embarrassed. Jamie cannot allow that.

“Yeah, no, Roy, I know that. I think it’s absolutely mint. I just didn’t know you liked all this, is all.”

It’s surprising to Jamie precisely because he thought he knew everything there was to know about Roy. He feels excitement and a swell of pride. Roy obviously is dedicated to this – whatever, nerdery? fandom? And the fact he’s sharing it with Jamie is touching.

Jamie honestly doesn’t know much at all about Star Wars. It’s not that he has anything against it, it’s just not his thing. Clearly it’s Roy’s thing, though.

Roy is still looking a little self-conscious. Jamie doesn’t want him to be uncomfortable, so he reaches for the helmet Roy is still holding.

“Who’re you going to go as? And don’t say Chewbacca – too obvious, innit?” Jamie gestures to Roy’s chest. Roy snorts, which is exactly what Jamie had hoped would happen. It’s enough to have him dropping his shoulders and looking less defensive.

Roy immediately launches into a pro and con listing of at least 6 characters that Jamie has honestly never heard of. Greedo? Lando? Boba Fett? Finn? Han Solo?

Okay that one Jamie has definitely heard of. Even watched the movies he was in. That Harrison Ford was right fit when he was younger. Still is, honestly. Jamie also liked how low the collar of his costume opened. Roy would look hot dressed like that.

“That’s who you should be. Han.” Jamie stops Roy mid-sentence.

“Why him?”

“Cause he’s the dashing rebellious hero, right? And he’s fit. You’ll be perfect.”

Roy looks at Jamie with one eyebrow raised. Oh. Jamie hadn’t meant to say Roy was fit, but whatever. The man knows he’s a smoke show. He’s had 25 years of people fawning over him.

Jamie shrugs at him, trying to maintain an innocent expression, ignoring the heat in his cheeks.

Roy just grunts, but he nods and looks thoughtfully at the holster he’s still holding.

Jamie had forgotten about the thigh holster. Christ.

Maybe Jamie should wear one of those big cloak things in case he needs to hide any awkward boners. The low cut top, the holster and the tighter-than-usual black pants that make up the Han Solo costume are sure to make an appearance in Jamie’s nighttime fantasies.

If Jamie had an ounce of self-preservation when it comes to Roy, he should have suggested the storm trooper. Oh well.

In the end, Roy does go with Han Solo and he convinces Jamie to dress as Obi Wan Kenobe, but the younger Ewan Macgregor one, not the old guy.

Jamie had agreed to let them get ready at Roy’s this time, just in case they needed any last minute items from Roy’s vast collection. He notices Roy had followed his lead and cleared off some space in his own bathroom for Jamie, even though there were already a number of Jamie’s products in Roy’s guest room. It makes his cheeks flush at Roy making room for him in his space.

Once again, Roy hands his keys over to Jamie as they are walking out his front door.

The wedding is a lot of fun, though a bit weird. There are a lot more people in costume than Jamie had been expecting.

It’s a little hard for Jamie to keep a straight face when watching Liam, dressed as Luke Skywalker exchanging vows with Victoria, who is dressed as Princess Leia. Jamie doesn’t know much about these films, but he sure as shit knows Luke and Leia are brother and sister, not husband and wife.

Whatever. Love is love and far be it from Jamie to kink shame.

Roy looks to be having the time of his life, posing in a million pictures with a big grin spread across his face. It’s more smiling for photos in one afternoon than he did during his entire career.

Jamie had been right – he looks so fucking sexy in that Han Solo outfit. Jamie tries not to feel too territorial when he notices so many other people who clearly agree with him, especially when they get handsy during the photos.

Roy is so busy posing during the reception that he really doesn’t drink very much at all. He does however look completely exhausted by the time things are winding down.

Jamie has been making himself a bit scarce throughout the night, as this was clearly something Roy understood deeply while he only had a passing knowledge of it. Still, he’s been keeping an eye on Roy, and when people finally stop clamoring for pictures, he makes his way over to his side.

The new couple have been sent off on their “Galactic Adventure” themed honeymoon, so Jamie doesn’t feel like it’s rude for them to leave. Of course if Roy wants to stay longer, Jamie is more than happy to hang around. He’s been enjoying seeing this different side of Roy.

“Alright?” he asks as he approaches Roy.

Roy turns towards him and gives him a tired smile.

“Yeah, but I’m fucking knackered. Ready to leave?”

Jamie nods and they begin to take their leave of everyone. They have to pass by the band on their way out of the venue and Roy speaks up.

“Betcha didn’t know they call the music in Star Wars jizz.”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Jamie couldn’t have heard him right.

Roy just cackles and tells him to look it up. Jamie is definitely going to do that as soon as they get back to Roy’s.

Fucking mental.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

The next wedding is one without overlap, so Jamie really is Roy’s plus one, and not simply the two of them showing up together.

Maureen has finally said yes to Marcus after he asked her to marry him three times. Roy and the rest of the yoga mums were ready to stage an intervention if she didn’t say yes.

Roy realizes having Jamie as his plus one may actually be more trouble than it’s worth – both because he hasn’t told Jamie about his mysterious Wednesday night unavailability and also due to the ‘Lust Conquers All’ of it all.

The mums know who Roy is now, of course. It would have been too hard to keep hiding it once he took over at Richmond. And they know Jamie is on the team. They simply don’t know that Roy and Jamie are friends. Pretty good friends, actually.

Roy realized the other day that with the exception of three days he took Soph and Phoe to the seaside, he’s seen Jamie every single day so far this summer. Between training, Phoebe days, and their weddings, it’s just been non-stop Jamie.

He’s a little surprised he hasn’t gotten sick of Jamie. Quite the opposite in fact. On the days when they only have training for a few hours together in the morning, he finds himself texting him throughout the day and into the evening.

Roy hasn’t had a friend like this before. Usually if Beard or Ted or even Trent text him, they are lucky to get a thumbs up reaction or a one word reply. Even his sister doesn’t fair much better.

With Jamie it’s different. They sometimes have whole bricks of text going back and forth. Well Roy has bricks of text and Jamie has short messages, sent one right after the other so they take up the entire screen sometimes. It’s annoying. Or it should be. Somehow it fits with Jamie’s communication style.

The only other person who came even close is Keeley, and even they didn’t seem to have that much to say to each other.

He’d be tempted to say it’s because he and Keeley spent most of their time together, so of course they didn’t need to text that much. But the truth is, he’s spending more time with Jamie now than he did with Keeley. And they still find stuff to talk about. It’s probably because of how much Jamie likes to natter on. Roy’s sure that must be what it is.

At that moment, Roy’s phone chimes with incoming texts, one right after another.

Speak of the devil.

Roy can never tell what the fuck Jamie is trying to say with his emojis.

In truth, Roy would have paid for the whole wedding if Maureen and Marcus would have let him. He can’t begin to pay back the mums for all the support they give him, especially after he and Keeley split up. He was a disaster and they were the only people he allowed to see just how big of a mess he was. He’s eternally grateful for them. So writing a check for £25k to reserve a swanky rooftop bar and buy a catered dinner and cases of champagne is the least he can do. He wishes they were all getting re-married so he could treat them all.

The big day arrives and once again, he’s given in to Jamie’s demands they get ready together at Jamie’s place.

Roy is grateful that Jamie only made fun of him a little when he finally got around to explaining who the yoga mums are. Roy felt it was only fair to let Jamie know what big fans they are of his run on LCA, even though it reminded Jamie that Roy had watched every episode of his season. A little teasing is expected between best mates, so Roy just shrugs it off.

True to his word, Jamie did put a shirt on under his new teal suit. Even put on a black tie. Roy has to admit to himself that Jamie Tartt really does wear a suit well. Wears everything well, if Roy’s being honest. Even if he hates the clothes Jamie chooses, he can’t deny that he looks good in them.

“Looks good. ‘s a nice suit,” Roy says, without prompting. He’s learned his lesson by now.

Jamie beams at him, before his face turns shy.

“Um, thought you could maybe use this. You know, if you want. Don’t have to.”

Roy looks down. Jamie is holding out a pocket square, the exact shade of his teal suit. Roy looks from the bit of fabric to Jamie, who still looks shy, if a bit hopeful.

He nods and grabs the square from Jamie. Starts to put it into his pocket, but evidently it isn’t good enough for Jamie, so he steps into Roy’s space and starts messing with it.

Roy can’t help but breathe his cologne in. It’s really good. Subtle in a way Lynx never is. Roy likes the way it smells bright, citrusy. It matches Jamie perfectly. It’s light enough that Jamie’s natural scent peeks through, too. He takes another deep breath in, not immediately noticing that Jamie’s hands have gone still where he was fussing with his pocket.

After a beat, Jamie clears his throat, patting Roy’s chest and takes a big step back. It takes Roy’s keen control not to follow him, trying to get another whiff.

That was weird. Guess he just really likes that cologne. He’ll have to ask Jamie the name of it, though he already knows it’s not one he’d ever wear himself. Roy tends to stick with woodsier, darker scents. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to know.

It’s less than a 20 minute drive to the wedding venue, and they don’t say much. The silence is anything but uncomfortable, though. It feels peaceful.

That’s the last moment of peace for Roy for the rest of the day.

The moment he and Jamie step into the foyer of the church, the mums descend on him like a flock of pigeons. They titter and giggle, competing for Jamie’s attention, while Roy is more or less kicked to the curb. He glances around and sees Maureen pop her head out of a room off to the side. She gestures for Roy to come in.

She looks absolutely lovely. Roy knows her divorce hadn’t been easy, which is partly why it took her so long to say yes to Marcus. She looks happy now. Settled.

“So, I see you must’ve moved completely past all that jealousy you used to have about Jamie, huh?”

“What jealousy? I was never jealous of him,” Roy replies with a huff, knowing it’s a bit of a lie. He’d felt plenty about Keeley and Jamie back when they were dating and again at the end of last season.

“Not jealous of him. Jealous about him. With all those girls falling all over him. Danthony, too. I could tell you didn’t like them touching him.”

Roy just looks at her blankly. That’s definitely not what he’d been feeling.

Right?

Before he has to think too deeply on the topic, the rest of the mums drag Jamie into the room, making sure he is able to say hi to Maureen, too. He’s already worked his magic on all of them, charming them like only Jamie can. It’s disgusting.

Except of course, Roy doesn’t actually think it’s disgusting. In fact, if he had to name what he’s feeling, it would be pride. He’s proud that Jamie has won these ladies over. They are so important to him, and he’s not too repressed to admit that Jamie’s important to him, too. Having them like each other is what he wants. So it’s nice to see them getting along like a house on fire.

Roy lets them all have their fun for a few more moments before grabbing Jamie by the arm and dragging him into the church proper. He wants to make sure they get good seats.

The ceremony is lovely, both Maureen and Marcus breaking down in tears during the vows. He’s not at all surprised when he starts sniffling to feel a handkerchief pressed into his hands. He nods in thanks before discreetly wiping his nose and his eyes. He glances at Jamie, who returns his gaze with a fond expression on his face. It’s not until the vicar loudly asks for the rings that Roy shakes himself and turns his face back to the alter.

After the ceremony, the girls argue about who will get to ride with Roy and Jamie to the reception. Jamie even offers to make two trips, which earns him coos from the girls and an eye roll from Roy.

Finally clearer heads prevail and Janice says she’ll drive herself and one other person to the reception. It’s unexpected when she points at Roy and gestures to her car. He shoots a look at Jamie, who looks like Roy’s throwing him to the wolves. That clinches it. He turns to follow Janice to her car.

He regrets it almost immediately.

“So, Roy. What’s going on with you and that handsome lad?”

“What the fuck are you on about?”

“Well, you were looking pretty cozy during the ceremony. And you’re wearing coordinated outfits.”

Roy looks at her blankly. She points to his pocket square. Shit. It hadn’t occurred to him that people might interpret it like that. He thinks of Jamie’s black tie, which does in fact match Roy’s suit. Did Jamie do it on purpose?

“There’s nothing. I mean. We’re friends.”

Janice hums but doesn’t say anything.

“Good friends. Don’t fucking tell him I said this but we’re best friends, all right?” Roy knows he sounds defensive, and he’s not really sure why. He’s starting to sweat, so he reaches over and turns the fan on high. Janice has the nerve to chuckle.

“Just fuck off, okay? Woulda fucking walked if I’d known you were going to give me the fucking third degree.”

“Roy, we all just want you to be happy. If that boy can make you happy, then you should grab him with both hands.” Janice reaches over to pat his hand. He allows it, even though he’s feeling intensely uncomfortable.

“And if you don’t grab him with both hands, I just might!” She waggles her eyebrows at him, which makes him laugh out loud. God he loves these women, even when they say things completely out of left field.

The reception is pretty great, if Roy says so himself. It’s amazing what money will buy. The food is delicious and the champagne and booze is all top shelf. He makes sure to drink one glass of water for every drink he has. Jamie notices what he’s doing and rushes to get a glass of water for Roy as soon as he drains his scotch. He’s always so eager to please.

Jamie gets his wish as the bar laid down a decent sized dance floor. Roy swears that wedding DJs have been working from the same set list for 20 years, since he recognizes most of the songs from the weddings he was attending when he was fresh out of Sunderland. Classics are classics for a reason, though. Means people are more likely to get caught up in nostalgia and let loose of their inhibitions.

It’s not surprising that Jamie is a great dancer. His precision body control translates perfectly from the pitch to the dance floor. The prick continues to charm the girls, too, asking each of them to dance when a slow song starts playing. Roy can’t help but feel charmed, too.

When things finally start winding down, well after midnight, Jamie has his phone full of new numbers, since each of the mums insisted he needed to be able to reach them. For what, Roy has no idea, but by this point he’s just going with the flow.

“Alright ladies, gotta get this old man home and into bed,” Jamie says to them. Of course this earns him nothing but wolf whistles and some frankly shockingly explicit comments from Rachel.

“You can all fuck right off,” he growls, to no avail. They really are shameless. He fucking loves them.

Jamie drives to Roy’s house, even though his car isn’t there. Says it’s because Roy looks too tired to drive home from Jamie’s. It’s fine, he can stay in Roy’s guest room.

After they’ve said good night and gone their separate ways, it takes a long time for Roy to fall asleep. He keeps thinking about what Maureen had said. Janice, too. Keeps thinking about that citrusy scent layered on top of the smell of Jamie. When he finally does drift off, he’s got a smile on his face.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Wedding number five isn’t technically a wedding at all. It’s a commitment ritual for some of the couples in Kenneth’s new cult. Evidently the coach driver’s charisma is too strong to keep him down for long. Jamie’s not sure what to think of the whole thing, but he’s glad he gets to spend another afternoon with Roy.

The dress code is casual, which is also great. It’s going to be a hot day, and Jamie is excited to be able to wear his new Versace shorts and shirt combo. They’ve got blue and cream colored starfish and coral all over the front, and the shirt has three buttons, which as far as Jamie is concerned is the perfect number of buttons. He can show off a peek of his chest and abs without looking like he’s trying too hard.

He already checked with Isaac to make sure they wouldn’t both be wearing the same thing, and he’s in the clear. He would have picked something else if his skipper would have asked, ‘cause he’s nice like that now.

Since Roy isn’t meant to be at his place for half an hour, Jamie decides to spend some time sorting things in his medicine cabinet while he FaceTimes his mum and Simon. He’s been so busy this summer he hasn’t had a chance to go see them and only gets to chat a few times a week.

“Hey mummy!”

“Hi my baby! How are you? Simon should be home from the shops in a few.”

“I’m good. Real good. Roy’s gonna be here in a bit to get ready for our wedding today.”

Georgie’s eyebrows go up.

“Your wedding, pet? Finally bagged your man, then?”

Jamie thinks about what he just said and snorts.

“No, mummy. I meant the wedding we are going to today. Not our wedding. I wish.”

“Aww, love, don’t you worry, I know one of these days he’s going to finally see what’s right in front of him and scoop you right up!”

Jamie just shakes his head. He absolutely doesn’t regret telling his mum and Simon about his feelings for Roy, though sometimes their teasing makes him squirm. They hadn’t seemed that surprised, either.

“I don’t know ‘bout that. Been trying to show him I’d be a good partner, all sly like, ya know? Making sure he’s got what he needs when we’re out, and driving him around and stuff. Paying attention to his knee. Don’t know if he’s noticed though.”

“Is that Jamie?” Simon says from off camera.

“Hiya Simon, you good?”

“Yes, duck I am! You talking about Roy?”

Jamie huffs a laugh and rubs the back of his neck.

“Yeah, a little.”

“Ah and how is Coach Kent these days? Treating you okay?”

“Course. In his grouchy old man way.”

“That’s good, Jamie. You deserve to be treated well, yeah?”

Jamie nods. He does know that, even if sometimes it’s hard to remember.

They chat a little more, giving updates on what’s been going on in Mummy’s neighborhood. Just as Simon is finishing a story about the feuding neighbors over the way, Jamie hears Roy let himself in the front door. He picks up the phone, still listening, and starts making his way downstairs.

“Hey Coach,” Jamie says when he gets to midway down the stairs. “Say hi to mummy and Simon!”

Roy looks up at the phone that Jamie has turned towards him. He gives a little grunt and a salute, the corners of his mouth turning up in a soft smile. Jamie laughs at his apparent lack of enthusiasm, but he knows that was a pretty warm greeting as far as Roy is concerned. He turns the phone back towards himself and gives his love to both of them before disconnecting.

He looks Roy up and down. He’s dressed like he always is, black boots, black jeans, black tee-shirt. Jamie knows if it wasn’t so warm out, he’d have his leather jacket on, too.

“That what you wearing today?” he asks, genuinely curious.

“What the fucks wrong with it?”

“Nothing. Just thought you might want to give a color a try for a change. This, ritual or ceremony or whatever, is going to be so weird that probably no one will even notice.”

“If no one’s gonna notice, why should I try something new?”

“Aww Royo, you admitting you dress to get noticed?” Jamie gives him a cocky grin.

“Fuck you, Tartt.” He sounds mad, but Jamie knows he’s not. “What about you? You already dressed?”

“Uh, no. These are my loungin’ round the house clothes. Obviously. Come up, I’ll show you what I’m wearing.”

Roy grabs his bag and follows him into the master bedroom. He’s been in Jamie’s bedroom a lot, especially this summer, but Jamie still gets a little thrill when Roy crosses the threshold. He stops in front of his bed where his outfit is laid out. Roy comes to a stop next to him, close, his bare arm brushing against Jamie’s. It feels good.

“Whatcha think?” he asks.

“Hmph. Not bad.” Roy nods. That’s high praise from him, so Jamie gives him a big grin. Roy just rolls his eyes.

Jamie goes into the ensuite, repeating for Roy the story Simon had told him. After a few minutes Jamie realizes Roy is still looking at the outfit.

“You really think I should try something new?” Roy asks softly.

Jamie snaps his head over to look at him.

“Yeah, mate, I do. Why not? You only live once, right? And like I said, I can all but guarantee you won’t be the weirdest dressed one there.”

“I don’t want to look weird at all, you prick.”

“No, no, ‘course not. You won’t, I promise.” Jamie comes closer to Roy, looking him up and down with narrowed eyes. Roy allows it, but his jaw is clenched.

Jamie snaps his fingers then goes to his closet. He actually has the perfect thing for Roy. It’s a Ferragamo he got that’s just a titch too small across the shoulders for him now. Should be perfect for Roy’s narrower frame. And it’s not even that wild, just a white silk shirt with navy blue ship sails, kind of an abstract pattern. He holds it up to Roy and tries to gauge his reaction.

Roy takes it in, then reaches out to rub the fabric between his fingers. Jamie can tell the moment he gives in, and lets out a whoop. Roy rolls his eyes.

“Calm down before I change my mind.”

“Yes sir!”

He’s extremely excited at Roy letting him dress him. It’s his second favorite clothing-related fantasy – the first of course being Roy letting him undress him.

He shakes his head to get rid of that thought. He’s already wound up. He can’t stop grinning, but Roy doesn’t seem to mind. In fact he looks fond.

“What about the bottoms? Can I just wear these jeans?” Roy asks doubtfully.

“Hmm, you could, but I’d rather the bottoms match the blue in the shirt, you know?”

Roy grunts at that, but he follows Jamie into the closet to see what he might come up with. Roy trusting him with this is really making Jamie’s head spin. Jamie starts opening the drawers where he keeps his nice shorts.

“Got anything that won’t fucking fall right off me?” Roy asks.

Jamie glances over, but Roy isn’t looking at him. Instead he’s looking at the full length mirror. Which is angled so it’s reflecting Jamie’s back side. If it was anybody but Roy staring at the mirror, Jamie would assume he’s looking at his ass, because lets be real, it’s a nice ass. But this is Roy, so that’s not likely.

“Been meaning to clean this closet out, so I still have some stuff from a few years ago. Here, try these.” He shoves two pairs of shorts at Roy, who grabs them with only a small grumble.

Roy goes back into Jamie’s bedroom where he takes off his shoes and tugs down his jeans. Jamie knows he’s got to keep his eyes to himself, since this is getting dangerously close to some of his wanking material. He goes back into the ensuite to start his routine.

It’s quiet in the bedroom, so after he’s done smoothing his eye cream in, he peeks out to see what Roy’s doing.

He’s got the navy blue linen shorts and the Ferragamo on, and he’s looking at himself in the mirror while he’s buttoning the shirt. Much to Jamie’s delight, he leaves the top two buttons undone. He looks so fucking fit that Jamie has to catch his breath. The fact that Jamie dressed him makes it so much better.

Roy runs his hand down his chest to smooth the front of the shirt. He catches Jamie’s eyes in the mirror and turns to look at him. It’s a reversal of their first time getting ready together, as he holds his arms open. Jamie’s so caught up in the experience he doesn’t reply right away.

“I look fucking stupid, don’t I?”

This jump starts Jamie’s brain. Roy could not be more wrong about this.

“No, lad, you look amazing. So fit.”

Roy blushes at the compliment, but looks very pleased.

Jamie hurries to finish getting ready, since dressing Roy had eaten into some of his time. Fortunately for both of them, Roy had left a pair of leather flip-flops at Jamie’s a few weeks back, so he had something to put on his feet. They could make clothing work okay, but Jamie’s feet were wider than Roy’s so footwear was not something they could share.

Jamie is absolutely right, the entire day is one big pile of weird. But it's one big pile of weird that he gets to spend at Roy’s side. Much to Jamie’s delight, Roy does attract a lot of notice. Every time someone comes round to compliment Roy on his outfit, Jamie feels his chest puff out and his smile widen. Roy keeps rolling his eyes, but his cheeks stayed pink the whole time and occasionally he’d even give Jamie credit for the fit.

He didn’t realize it right away, but they are once again subtly coordinated, Roy in his ship shirt and Jamie in his under-the-sea set. Ocean-themed and all that. It makes him feel all warm inside.

After the ritual or ceremony or whatever, the crowd starts moving towards the tables set up off to the side. Roy stops Jamie with a hand on his arm.

“Do not drink any tea. Probably shouldn’t drink anything at all.”

“What? Why not?” Jamie knows Roy likes to be in control of things when they are training but this seems a bit overboard. It’s tea. What’s wrong with tea?

“In fact, don’t eat anything, either.” Roy is peering at the spread suspiciously.

“But I’m hungry!” Jamie knows he’s whining but he hasn’t had anything to eat since before Roy showed up earlier today.

“Trust me. I’ll take you out for a kebab after, okay?”

“Can I get chips?” Jamie knows the answer will probably be no, but you don’t get what you don’t ask for.

Roy narrows his eyes at him, considering.

“Depends.”

“Oh what?”

Roy smirks at him.

“I’ll let you know when I decide what it depends on,” he says before chuckling at Jamie’s incredulous expression.

Jamie wishes he didn’t get off on Roy being bossy and a little bit mean to him, but he just looks so fit when he’s like this. He just sighs and nods, knowing the reality is that if Roy decides he couldn’t even have a kebab, he’ll still be overjoyed to go to Hus’ with him. That’s how gone on Roy he is.

“Fine.”

Jamie spends the next 20 minutes chatting with Will and Declan while Roy continues to begrudgingly accept compliments on his attire. Finally, Roy catches his eye and tilts his head towards the carpark.

“Hus is going to be so excited to see us. Bet he’s missed me.” Jamie says, partly because he knows it will wind Roy up.

“Fuck off. If he’s missing anyone, it’s me. He’s not your fucking kebab guy. Go find your own.”

“Nope. He’s the best. You’ll have to share.” Jamie grins at Roy. Roy just rolls his eyes.

That wasn’t a no, was it? Jamie’s going to count that as a win. This whole day has been full of wins.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Roy cannot believe Jamie has the nerve to act like Hus is his friend. After all, if it weren’t for Roy, there wouldn’t even be a wedding for them to go to this afternoon.

About a year and a half ago, Roy and the yoga mums were out getting their traditional post G-A-Y crepes.

Of course, crepes wouldn’t be crepes without running into their favorite drag queens. As they were all piling out of the restaurant, Roy ran right into Hus. Literally. Slammed right into him. Knocked them both to the ground. It didn’t help that Roy was still a bit tipsy, but whatever.

Trixie Stix, one of the queens, grabbed Hus under the arm and hefted him right to his feet. It was a pretty impressive show of strength, and if Hus expression was any indication, he was suitably impressed. In fact, he couldn’t stop staring at Trixie. Not that Roy could blame him – she was gorgeous, all 6’3” of her, and she was wearing her purple sequins and feathers, which always made her look amazing. She really was stunning.

Eventually Hus wandered off in one direction, looking like he’d been cold-cocked, while Roy and the mums tried to remember where they’d left their cars.

When Roy went to get a kebab a week later, Hus cornered him and asked about Trixie.

Roy’s always been protective of people he cares about, and she happens to be one of those people. And it’s not only Trixie he likes – he also likes Sean, who performs as Trixie. He doesn’t want to expose either of them to anything that might make them uncomfortable. That being said, everything Roy had ever seen or heard about Hus made it seem like he was a pretty stand-up bloke.

Hus could sense his hesitation.

“Maybe you could just tell me where I can see her perform?”

That seemed reasonable enough, so Roy grabbed a napkin and wrote down the name of the club where Trixie did a regular show. Hus smiled his thanks and tucked the napkin into his pocket with care. He still charged Roy full price for his kebab, which seemed a little stingy to Roy, but whatever. A man’s gotta make money.

Evidently, Roy had nothing to worry about. A few months after that initial meeting he heard from Janice who heard from one of the queens that Sean and Trixie both had been completely swept off their feet by some guy who sold kebabs for a living.

So all that to say, Roy definitely deserves to have rights to Hus over Jamie. Not to mention, it wasn’t Jamie’s name on the invite to Hus and Sean’s wedding.

Roy tells him all of this while he’s waiting for Jamie to finish getting ready for the ceremony.

Jamie just chuckles.

“All right, lad, no need to get your knickers in a twist, I’m just taking the piss. You make it too easy, mate,” Jamie says as we walks back into the bedroom.

Roy’s sure he would have had some kind of snappy comeback if he hadn’t been blindsided by how good Jamie looks.

He’s got glitter spread across his cheekbones and his shirt is unbuttoned at the collar, giving a glimpse of his collarbones, which are sparkling, too. His hair is slightly curly on top, and Roy has the weird urge to touch it to see if it looks as soft as it feels. He’s wearing that citrusy cologne again and his suit is tailored to perfection.

“You, uh. You look. Really good, Jamie.” Roy knows he’s stumbling, but he can’t help it. There’s just something about seeing Jamie like this that makes him feel wrong-footed.

“Aww, thanks coach. Means a lot coming from you. You ready?” Jamie starts down the stairs, barely looking back at Roy. Which is fine by him, since it gives him a moment to gather his scattered thoughts.

Hopefully the rest of the day won’t leave him feeling so unsettled. Jamie grabs Roy’s keys and heads out to the car. It’s not even a conversation anymore. Roy’s going to let Jamie drive his car. Roy thinks back to when Keeley and Jamie were dating and she was always driving Jamie’s car. He’d assumed at the time that Jamie was just a shit driver, but he’s really not. What was more likely is that Jamie just liked turning over responsibility to Keeley. One less thing for him to worry his pretty head about.

It’s not like Roy hasn’t noticed how sometimes Jamie has a hard time making decisions on his own. He just likes someone else making the call for him. That’s probably why they get along so well now that Jamie’s dropped the prick persona. Jamie needs a firm hand and Roy is more than happy to fill that role for him, in training and on the pitch.

Sometimes in their day-to-day life, too, when Jamie seems to be struggling between two options that as far as Roy is concerned are 100% interchangeable. He’ll hem and haw, waffling between a yes and a no, until finally Roy can’t take it anymore and just makes the decision for him. Eat this. Drink that. Move like so. This brand deal is better, do this one. Your agent is an asshole, fire him. Sometimes he doesn’t even have to speak out loud. Jamie will take one look at him and be able to tell what choice Roy would make for him.

So why is Jamie so eager to take the wheel, quite literally, in this case?

“Why don’t you mind driving me around to these things?” Roy asks.

“Hmm? Oh. Well, I guess partly ‘cause I won’t be drinking and I know you might wanna.”

It’s a good answer, thoughtful. But it’s clearly not the whole reason.

“What’s the other part?”

Jamie glances at him, then moves his eyes back to the road.

“Well, you do a lot for me, it just feels like a way to try and repay you a bit.”

“What? I don’t do anything for you,” Roy scoffs, shaking his head at Jamie.

“Are you kidding me, coach? You do so much for me. You trained me one-on-one all last year. You have me ‘round for dinner, let me play with Phoebe. Don’t mind me blathering on about stuff all the time, stuff I know you don’t care ‘bout. Plus…” He trails off.

Roy waits. Jamie sighs.

“Plus, you just make things quiet, like. Up here.” Jamie gestures to his temple.

Roy’s not sure how to take that.

“And that’s good?” he asks.

“Yeah, mate. I’ve got all these voices in me head all the time, me dad, Ted, fucking pundits. Doctor Sharon sometimes, too. It gets loud. And they don’t always have nice things to say. But with you, I dunno, it just fades away.”

Oh. That’s not something Roy expected to hear. He’s happy it helps Jamie, even if he doesn’t totally understand.

The silence between them stretches out. Rather than saying anything, because what the fuck would he even say, Roy just reaches over and grabs Jamie by the shoulder. He feels the tension drain out of him where his hand rests. Instead of removing his hand, he starts to rub his palm back and forth, his fingertips brushing the hair at the nape of Jamie’s neck. Can’t help but feel something warm and melty at the way Jamie shivers.

They don’t say anything else until Jamie puts the car into park.

“Roy,” he says, “I just want to say I’ve really had a nice time with you, going to all these weddings. It’s been fun.”

Roy agrees completely, so he tells Jamie as much, which earns him a big toothy grin. They look at each other for a moment longer before exiting the car.

The ceremony is lovely, if a little unconventional. The wedding party consists of a mix of Sean’s family, Hus’ family and some of Sean’s fellow performers. It’s loud and raucous and honestly the most fun Roy’s had at any of the weddings they’ve been to so far this summer. And since Hus was in charge of catering, the food cannot be beat.

Roy’s in such a good mood that he doesn’t even hesitate to say yes when Jamie asks if he can have some chips. The grin he gets in return probably shouldn’t make him feel so breathless, but rather than think about that, he focuses on his own plate of food that Jamie has made sure to bring over before he went to get his own. Roy’s actually a little afraid he’s becoming completely spoiled, the way Jamie’s always looking after him.

Once Jamie joins him with his own plate, they easily fall into conversation, picking up where they’d left off before the ceremony. Sometimes Roy is surprised at how easy it is to talk to Jamie. They have so much in common, and the ways they differ offer a contrast that makes things all the more interesting.

Sometimes, though, they just let time pass, not saying anything. It surprised Roy when he and Jamie first got to know each other. He’d never expected Jamie to be able to be quiet for long enough to let the silence grow comfortable, and yet, he’d found it happening more and more often, the longer they spent together. It’s not like they’d run out of things to say. It was more like Jamie finally realized that Roy wasn’t going to get tired of him if he just took a breath sometimes.

It’s a level of comfort Roy has only ever experienced with Sophia and Phoebe. And Granddad, of course. Isn’t that a thought. Jamie Tartt making the short list of people Roy feels safe around.

“Should have known when you brought him in that he was someone special,” Hus says, interrupting that train of thought, as he hands Roy a beer.

“What?” Roy narrows his eyes at Hus.

“You never brought anyone in, ‘cept that bloke I thought was your dad. Not until you showed up with him one night, both of you looking all beat to shit.” Hus nods in Jamie’s direction, over by the drink table.

Roy still feels shame about that fucking night. Why the hell did he punch Jamie? He knows he doesn’t deserve it, but thank god the fucking kid forgave him.

“Then you kept showing up with him. So figure he must be someone special, right?” Hus continues.

“Not sure what you’re getting at,” Roy growls at Hus. Except, he’s pretty sure he knows exactly what Hus is getting at.

“Well, maybe this is because I’m in love and happier than I could imagine, thanks in part to you. I just want to return the favor. Maybe the fact he’s the only one you’ve ever brought means something.”

They both look over at Jamie, who’s now surrounded by people. He must have just said something funny, because everyone is cracking up. One of the queens tucks her hand through his arm, and Jamie pats her hand and smiles up at her.

Roy looks at Jamie, really looks at him. He’d ditched his suit coat somewhere and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, the white of the cuff a nice contrast to his tattoos. He’s got a sheen of sweat and his hair is a little mussed, but still looks so goddamned touchable.

He looks like a fucking dream. Roy’s dream, specifically.

When the fuck had that happened? And the thing of it is, Roy knows it’s not just his looks that get to him. It’s his kindness and his bravery. It’s his hard work and determination. The way Roy can push and push and push and Jamie just goes along with it, until he doesn’t and even that resistance feels perfect to Roy.

Fuck.

He wants Jamie. Like really wants him. What the fuck is he supposed to do with that?

“Just think about it, yeah?” Hus rises, squeezing Roy’s shoulder before turning to go find his new husband.

Roy is definitely going to be thinking about it. Probably going to be the only thing he thinks about for the rest of his fucking life.

Just then, Jamie catches his eye and smiles, followed by a wink.

Roy is so fucked.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

When Jamie first met Simon, he really wasn’t sure about him. His dad had started to come back around and Jamie thought there might be a chance him and mummy would reconcile. He didn’t want this bloke ruining things for them.

The hope of reconciliation was snuffed out during his birthday trip to Amsterdam.

But it wasn’t until Jamie met Gemma, Simon’s niece, that he finally let himself see what kind of person his mum’s new boyfriend really was.

Gemma’s dad had run off when she was a wee lass, but lucky for her, he never came back. When Gemma was around, Jamie could see how safe she felt with Simon. How well he treated her. How he loved her.

Honestly, Jamie was jealous. Didn’t know what to do with it at first, so he mostly just acted like a jerk, to Simon and Gemma both. Finally Gemma came right out and told Jamie she was happy to share, but he had to promise to be nicer to Simon.

After that, it was easier to let Simon in. It helped that Simon more or less treated Jamie the same way as he treated Gemma right from the start. That did more to win Jamie over than almost anything. Well that, and how good he was to mummy.

Gemma kept coming around. She and Jamie were only 10 months apart in age, so they understood each other, cared about the same things teenagers always care about. They kept passing a crush back and forth between themselves, never at the same time, though, and eventually their feelings cemented as family and nothing more. Jamie wondered sometimes if he hadn’t had football if things might have gone a different direction.

He’s happy they didn’t, though. He knows the bloke she’s getting married to is a really good guy and they love each other deeply. Plus this way, he’ll get to be Uncle Jamie to their kids. It’s mint.

The wedding is in Manchester of course, so he and Roy drive up the night before. They get in late and go straight to the hotel. He and Roy had just gotten one room. Sometimes they both forget they aren’t council estate kids anymore, and try to save money here and there. It’s nice to have that in common. Some of his past girlfriends could never understand his thrifty ways. He knows for a fact Roy still clips digital coupons, so he doesn’t feel badly at all about suggesting they just bunk up.

It also makes it easier for them to get ready together. Jamie is going to really miss how it feels to have Roy right next to him while he gets dressed up. He doesn’t dwell on that, though. He wants to only feel positive feelings today.

It’s perfect weather for an outdoor wedding. Jamie’s happy about that. Gemma deserves the most beautiful day.

The ceremony is short, which Jamie appreciates. For a change this time, he’s the one who starts crying, so he uses his own handkerchief. When Roy notices, he rests his hand on Jamie’s shoulder and squeezes it. He leaves it there, occasionally running his fingers back and forth over the smooth material of Jamie’s suit. It feels grounding. Jamie smiles at him, hopeful his gratitude is evident even through the tears.

At the reception, Jamie makes sure Roy has everything he needs. Roy shakes his head at him and shoos him off. It’s playful though, and Jamie revels in that. He didn’t know Roy had a playful side before they started spending more time together.

He never expected to see so many new sides of Roy, but this summer of weddings has afforded him the opportunity and he’s so grateful. It’s like every new setting Roy was in revealed a new aspect, something beyond the asshole teammate, the grouchy coach, the begrudging best friend.

And of course, Jamie loves every fucking one. As if he needed any more reason to love Roy Kent. Jesus.

“Jam Tartt!!!” A familiar voice rings out. Jamie looks up just in time to catch Gemma, who launches herself into his arms. They grip each other tight, rocking back and forth. God, he’s missed her.

“Gemma, you look gorgeous today. Well everyday, but today ‘specially,” Jamie says sincerely.

“So do you! And don’t even get me started on your fucking fit date. Well done, Jamie.”

Jamie tries to smother his grin, but he can’t help it. Gemma has always known about his monster crush on Roy. Hell, she used to sit under his poster with Jamie, helping him manifest a future where they were on the same team and best friends. And if fucking worked!

“Well, he’s not really my date, just my plus one. ‘s different, you know?”

“Sure it is Jamie. Tell that to the way he keeps checking you out.”

They both look over at Roy, who may have been looking at them, but is now looking at Simon, who just came to sit with him. Jamie’s heart swells at the sight. He wants the two of them to get along so badly.

“Well, trust me, Jamie. He looks at you like he wishes you were the one at the altar and him walking up the aisle!” Gemma teases him before grabbing his hands and pulling him to the dance floor.

Jamie wants to trust Gemma, but he also doesn’t want to get his hopes up. Sometimes Roy does seem like he’s interested, or at the very least attracted to Jamie. But Jamie’s not sure if he’d ever want to act on that. It’s a big step. A big risk.

But the reward would sure be worth it, as far as Jamie is concerned.

He’s stopped from that line of thinking by the opening notes of a song he knows oh-too-well. He and Gemma spent months perfecting the choreography to it. He hopes he remembers all the steps.

***

“Hello Roy! You good?” Simon asks.

He pulls a chair out next to where Roy’s been sitting watching Jamie on the dance floor. As usual, Jamie had made sure he was stocked up with water, appetizers and scotch before going to have some fun.

Roy nods and hums in response. He likes Simon. Appreciates the fact Jamie had at least one man in his life when he was younger who didn’t seem to be a complete waste of space.

They both watch Jamie and Gemma doing what looks like some sort of choreographed dance. They’ve gathered a crowd to watch them. Simon chuckles under his breath.

“I don’t know if you know this, Roy, but I never had any wee ones of my own. After Gemma’s father ran off, well...I know an uncle isn’t a dad, but I did what I could, you know?”

Roy nods. “Yeah, I’ve got one of those myself.”

“Ah yes, the great Phoebe. Jamie has told us a lot about her.”

Roy can’t help but smile at that, though he rolls his eyes, too. Of course Jamie has been talking about Phoebe. Those two are thick as thieves and Roy is often sure they’re trying to combine their powers of mischief to kill him.

“I thought I could never feel for another kid the way I felt for Gemma,” Simon continues. “Then I met Georgie and Jamie and I swear, that kid got his hooks in my heart from the start.”

Roy knows that feeling all too well. Even when he couldn’t stand Jamie, it felt like he still had his hooks in Roy.

Jamie and Gemma finish their dance to applause, then immediately start dancing together when a slower song starts up.

“Used to think those two might end up together. They got pretty close when Jamie was in the U21s” Simon nods his head towards the pair.

Roy can’t help but imagine what that would look like. Gemma is lovely, a perfect counterpoint to Jamie’s movie star good looks. He doesn’t like how the thought makes him feel, though, so he shakes his head once to knock it loose. Simon speaks again.

“But even back then, our Jam only had eyes for two things: football and a certain legendary Chelsea midfielder.”

Roy whips his head around to look at Simon, who is looking right back with a smile. Roy points to his chest and mouths ‘me?’ though of course Simon means him. Who else would it be?

“I told you - Roy Kent always remains. Even when you two had your bumps in the road, Jamie still had so much room in his heart for you.”

Roy feels gobsmacked.

“I guess, what I’m trying to get at is if you don’t have that room in your own heart for him, can you please let him down easy? You know he hasn’t always had the best relationships with men in his life. It would break all of our hearts for you to be added to that list. Not saying you have to feel the same way, of course. But just be gentle, yeah?”

Simon pats him on the back and stands up to go greet some other guests.

Roy’s head is spinning. Jamie cares about him? Loves him even? What the fuck?

Roy thinks back over their summer, wedding after wedding after wedding. Jamie has been the perfect plus one, always making sure Roy is comfortable and content. Even making sure he’s got a fucking handkerchief on him to help dry Roy’s tears. Of course he fucking cares for Roy. Why else would he bend over backwards to do all that for him?

Now Roy just needs to decide what he’s going to do about it.

Roy looks at the dance floor and sees Jamie is dancing with Georgie.

He knows just what to do.

Roy marches up to the pair and clears his throat.

“Could I cut in?”

“I knew you had a thing for mummy!” Jamie laughs as he holds his mum’s hand out towards Roy. He’s still looking at her and smiling, but Georgie is looking at Roy.

“I don’t think it’s me he wants to dance with, my baby.” She takes Roy’s hand and places Jamie’s into it and turns to go back towards Simon.

“What?” Jamie keeps looking between his mum and Roy.

“Will you dance with me? Last wedding of the season and all. Figure we ought to.”

Roy honestly can’t believe he’s able to string that many words together. His heart is beating so hard and he can feel a drop of sweat rolling down his spine.

Jamie looks into his face and smiles. It’s not his camera-ready smile, but rather the one he reserves for quiet moments. It’s the sunrises and sharing late night cups of tea smile. Roy loves that smile.

They start to dance, moving together in sync as if they’d been doing this for ages. Maybe metaphorically they have. It feels like they’ve been dancing around each other all this time.

“Saw you talking to Simon. How was that?” Jamie asks softly.

“Hmm. I think he just gave me the most gentle shovel talk I’ve ever heard.”

Jamie immediately looks panicked. Roy can tell he’s about to start sputtering out a denial. Rather than let him, Roy gives his waist a squeeze. Jamie clamps his mouth shut.

“it’s okay, Jamie. He just confirmed some things I’ve wondered about.”

Jamie’s cheeks turn red and his eyes drop. He looks embarrassed. Maybe even a little ashamed. For the first time, their steps falter.

Roy cannot have that. He places his finger under Jamie’s chin and tilts his head back up.

“Made me brave enough to come ask you to dance, didn’t he? That’s not bad, right?”

Jamie is meeting his eyes again, though his neck is starting to flush, too. It’s absolutely adorable and Roy cannot help but want to follow that flush down. Maybe he will sometime soon, but he’s got to get this out first.

“Jamie, I’m not sure if I ever want to get married. Not sure it’s right for me. But what this whole summer of weddings with you has shown me is I never want to go to another fucking wedding without you by my side. Or another funeral. Or a Bar mitzvah. Or a team bonding night. Or one of Phoebe’s fucking school plays. Or even grocery shopping. I want you with me for all of it.”

His voice is just gravel by the end of it. Feels like the most important thing he’s ever said. At some point during his speech, they’d stopped moving and are just standing there, holding on to each other.

Roy’s heart freezes when Jamie drops his hand from where it was gripping Roy’s shoulder. But he doesn’t have long to panic, because Jamie is pulling his other hand hard, leading them off the dance floor and over towards some trees that are lining the reception area.

Once they are out of earshot and mostly out of eyeshot of the crowd, Jamie squeezes Roy’s hand.

“You mean all that?” he asks. He sounds tentative.

“Of course I do. Wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.”

“For how long?”

Roy thinks back towards the start of the summer. Did it start then? No. It started before that. Maybe it was after their stupid fight. Or before that. Maybe it was in Amsterdam. Or before that. Maybe it was when he held a trembling Jamie together in the Wembley locker room. Or before that. Maybe it was at the idiotic curse fire, when he finally saw something deeper in Jamie. Or before that. Maybe it was the moment Jamie fucking Tartt walked through the doors of the Richmond locker room and blew Roy’s whole fucking world up.

“Always? I don’t know. You had your hooks in me from the start, Jamie. Didn’t understand what it meant though. Not ‘til fucking Janice and Maureen and Hus and Simon all opened their fucking mouths.”

Jamie looks at him in wonder. Then he lunges towards Roy, grabbing his face between his hands and plants one on him.

It’s a terrible first kiss, with too many teeth, but it’s also a perfect first kiss. It’s familiar and new and the loveliest thing Roy’s ever felt.

“I don’t care if you don’t want to marry me, Roy. But I love you. Always have. So yeah, if you’ll let me stay by your side for all of that stuff, it’s what I want. I want everything with you.”

Roy feels like his head is going to explode, followed directly by his heart. He grins at Jamie, who’s still grabbing his face. Jamie pulls him in for another kiss, much sweeter this time. They stay close like that for a bit, exchanging soft kisses that feel like they promise so much more.

“You know, Roy,” Jamie puts some space between them. Roy hums in response.

“We went to a lot of weddings this summer. Think we’ve earned ourselves a honeymoon?”

Roy looks at Jamie’s face and can’t imagine anything he wants more than to go somewhere special with this man.

“Fuck yes. I’ll call Kathy. We’ve got about a week left before we’ve got to be back at the dogtrack. Sure we can find somewhere nice.”

Jamie’s smile is the most beautiful thing Roy has ever seen.

“Make sure it’s somewhere real nice. And somewhere real private,” Jamie says, waggling his eyebrows and sticking out his tongue.

Roy cannot fucking wait to get Jamie alone. Today and tomorrow and hopefully for the rest of his life.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️