Chapter Text
Emma was Jack's little sister who had inherited her brother's love for tennis and quickly made her debut in the school's team. Jack thought it would be a golden opportunity to start hanging out with his little sis more but week after week, she insists on acting like she doesn't know him and spends the whole session with Coco instead, a girl in her year. Emma talked more to Jannik at school than she did to Jack which she insisted was because 'Jannik doesn't embarrass her in front of the whole school unlike some people' which Jack scoffs in indignation at. There was no way that Jack was the one bringing her school cred down especially considering how popular he was, and he argued this often but Emma simply refused to argue back.
Emma was also Jack's greatest bargaining chip for getting rides with Andy because unlike Jack, Andy actually liked Emma and had known her since she was in Year 1. The result of Jack and Jannik being such close friends as they grew up was that the two families spent a whole lot of time together. When Jack's parents were busy, it was up to Andy to take him to his football club which also meant keeping a close eye on his sister in the meantime. Andy always griped that he somehow ended up having to do all the lifts to Novak who simply reasoned that Jack liked him more and therefore it was his duty forever now.
When Jack eventually left the house (Andy let out a sigh of relief), Jannik had almost condemned himself to another hour of trying to figure out his history work when he heard a ping emitting from his phone that he had completely forgotten about and actually had no idea where it was. He got up confused, and rummaged around his desk for a minute before exploring his bed covers where he found it almost lost in the duvet. Yeah, Jack had definitely been lying on it.
Jannik checked his notifications that were blessedly empty apart from an alert notifying him that he had been added to a group chat.
/Jack has added you to 'Tennis mush'/
/Jack has added Emma to the group/
Jack: What is up Draper nationnnn
Emma: What am I doing in a chat with you
Jannik: Hey Emma!
Emma: Hey Jannik! Sorry about this tosser
Jack: Oi
Jack: I'm gonna tell mum you said that
Emma: OH MY DAYS
Emma: SHUT UP JACK
Jack: wow. So much for sibling love
Jack: Jannik you've been promoted, you are now my favourite sibling
Jannik: Wasn't I always :(
Emma: I hate this family
Jack: ANYWAYS
Jack: as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted...
Jack: basically
Jack: i talked to Jannik
Jack: and basically
Jack: he said that
Emma: We don't need an essay mate
Jack: Jannik'sagreedtocometotenniscamp
Emma: YAY
Emma: Now Jack won't hang around me the whole time like a loser
Jack: I WASN'T GONNA DO THAT?!
Jack: I am capable of making friends you know
Emma: Sure…
Emma: Just don't come crying to me when Jannik partners up with someone else and you're all alone.
/Emma has added Coco to the group/
Emma: Hey Coco! Jannik and Jack are also coming to tennis camp if you wanted to walk with us???
Emma: Assuming you couldn't get a lift Jack you beg
Jack: why would you assume that
Jack: Muzzah loves me
Coco: Hey Emma! Hey guys!
Coco: Yeah I'd love to! I'm really looking forward to playing tennis with you guys, I really look up to you both :D
Coco: And I always love playing with you Emma <3
Jack: EMMA CODE RED
Emma: OMDS SHUT UP
Emma: I am SO sorry about him Coco. We're really glad that you're coming as well!
Jannik: Absolutely! I can't wait to get to know my future sister-in-law
Emma: You're both getting blocked and reported
Jack: DON'T YOU DARE BLOCK YOUR OWN BROTHER
Jannik smiled down at his phone, unable to prevent a chuckle from escaping. He never had siblings but somehow he knew exactly what it was like from constantly being witness to Jack and Emma's bickering.
He always felt it was quite daunting being an only child. It was difficult to know how alone he'd be if something ever happened to his parents which is why he would always be eternally grateful for Emma and Jack who had basically adopted him as one of their own at this point.
He still remembered the days when Emma would have birthday sleepovers and Jack would get to invite one friend round to help fend away the 'girliness' of the festivities. He always chose Jannik. Except they never hated Emma for her supposed 'girliness' (they soon realised the motivation behind this word) and were usually at Emma's beck and call the whole event. It was her birthday after all.
The only good thing, Jannik supposed, about being an only child was that he had his parents firmly wrapped around his finger.
For his 17th birthday, Jannik had only asked for one thing, a new tennis racket (of course he received other presents, he was an only child! So what if his dads wanted to spoil him.)
It was Jack who had introduced Jannik to tennis at the age of 9, especially as it seemed to be increasingly futile to find an indoor skiing centre in the middle of London. After the first session, Jannik was completely put off the idea of continuing with tennis, it just didn't feel right to him. He was all long coltish limbs that he hadn't properly grown into yet, nothing like the professional players he had seen on the TV. But Jack seemed so entranced with the sport that Jannik began to think that he was getting something wrong. So he stuck with it, attended Jack's practices with him, sometimes to watch and sometimes he joined in (when the coach was feeling generous) until he mustered up the courage to ask his parents for proper lessons. He went to his papa first because he knew the Serb enjoyed tennis, he was certainly glued to the TV when Wimbledon rolled around every year, and Jannik employed the deadliest puppy dog eyes he could muster.
"Papa, I was wondering..." Jannik glanced up bashfully from where he had been studying his own socked feet. "If I could maybe join Jack's tennis lessons. It's just that he looks like he has lots of fun and I think I would really enjoy it." After a long silence, Jannik looked up again to gauge his papa's stance on the matter. What he found was the black-haired man smiling almost wistfully down at him. When the elder caught Jannik's reproachful look, he rolled his eyes fondly, perfectly aware of how much his son was putting on an act. He then hooked his hands under Jannik's arms, who began uncontrollably giggling, and heaved him into his lap.
Jannik curled into his chest until the top of his head knocked the man's chin. Novak held him tightly in his embrace. "My сунце," (sun) Novak began, "I would love nothing more than to see my pride and joy become a tennis player. Don't tell your father but tennis was my first true love." At that Novak held a finger to his lips and winked cheekily at Jannik who couldn't help but giggle. "But it's okay because I know it was his too."
Novak held Jannik for a moment longer when Andy came strolling through the living room door folding up his morning newspaper. “Novak dear, did you hear that there is a new royal child on the way?” He lifted Jannik straight from Novak's lap and swung him round in the air before settling him on his hip which allowed Jannik to hide his face in his neck.
“Oh you do know how much I love Princess Kate,” Novak sighed, “I think I feel connected through our taste in men.”
“How so?” Andy asked puzzled. Novak stood up to wrap his arms around Andy and rest his cheek on Jannik’s head.
“Balding British men of course.” Andy swatted Novak on the shoulder.
“Oh very funny Novak. Har har.” He continued to rock Jannik from side to side whilst glaring up at Novak despite the slight smile on his face. “What’s up Jan? Why do you seem so quiet?”
"Do you want to tell him the news Jannik or should I?" Novak implored in a soft tone. Jannik simply shook his head into his dad's shoulder, already overwhelmed with the attention. "Okay," Novak chuckled. "Well Jannik here, wants to take tennis lessons."
Andy gasped dramatically and swung his head down to the red head in his arms. "Is this true?! How exciting!" Jannik tightened his hold on the Scotsman. "Taking after his papa already!"
"Well he already looks just like you, I had to get something!"
______________
The first day of tennis camp was blessedly sunny. Jannik had been up since the crack of dawn getting ready for the day ahead. Jack may have been able to bring him out of his shell but he was an introvert at heart and needed ample time to prepare for the busy day of socialising that he would soon have to face.
As a kid, he'd somehow always managed to avoid going to holiday camps which he was grateful back then but kind of regretting now, wishing he had some experience. 'Well,' he reasoned with himself, 'at least I know Jack'll be around. How bad could it possibly be?' He took a moment to breathe, closing his eyes and focusing on what he could hear.
The parakeets outside, the ticking of the clock on the wall, the sound of...
BANG
"MY SON!" Novak came bursting into the room. "ARE WE READY FOR SOME TENNIS?!"
Jannik leapt so high in the air he was at risk of missing his chair entirely on the way back down. Holding a hand to his chest he tried to regulate his breathing in order to slow down his rapid heart rate.
"DAD." He snapped, glaring up at the man who simply smiled smugly down at him.
"What?" He asked with a faux inquisitive tone, "Can't a father be excited that his son is following in his footsteps?" He actually pouted to top it off.
Jannik rolled his eyes. "Finneeee, as long as I can eat my breakfast in peace. I'm still seeing how I feel about playing tennis more regularly and I definitely don't know if I want to go professional yet."
Novak clasped his hands together and had the decency to look at least a little sorry. "You're right. I promise, no more tennis talk until you get back after."
"Thank you." Jannik was actually pleased with that result. It wasn't every day that you got THE Novak Djokovic to concede. The red head stood up with just that much more spring in his step and led the way downstairs in the hopes that he could grab a quick breakfast before heading to Jack's early. Novak scuffled after him.
His plans however, were nipped in the bud when he walked in on his dad whipping up the most extravagant breakfast plate he had ever seen, with three sickly green pancakes fashioned into tennis balls as the centrepiece. Jannik's mouth fell open in shock and all he could do was stare at Andy. He whipped his head around to Novak behind him who suddenly cut off his own frantic 'abort' sign to Andy that constituted a horizontal hand waved in front of his neck and panic struck eyes. He hid his hands behind his back and smiled serenely at Jannik as if he hadn't been doing anything at all.
Jannik simply huffed and sat down at the table. He would always be grateful for what his parents do for him. Even if sometimes he finds it hard to show.
___________
Jannik knocked at the front door of Jack's modest sub-terraced house that he had been to a hundred times before so they could both walk down to school together.
"EMMAAA GET THE DOOR!" He heard Jack bellow from inside.
"GET IT YOURSELF." She yelled back. Jannik rolled his eyes, he always turned up to Jack's unreasonably early because he knew he'd have to wait for twenty minutes at his doorstep for Jack to finish faffing about.
Jannik was just about to look at his watch when what sounded like a large object fell down the stairs and barrelled into the other side of the door making Jannik jolt. Slowly, the door creaked open and Jack was revealed, wincing, on the other side.
"Sorry about that mate," Jack rubbed the back of his head, "I'm ready to go, I swear, just let me get my shoes on first." Jack let the door swing open and sat back to the bottom step of the stairs to begin tugging his shoes on (that he refused to ever undo the laces of).
Emma and Coco came wandering out of the kitchen at that moment, giggling over something and Jannik caught Emma throwing a conspiratory glance over at Jack before locking eyes with Coco and immediately bursting into laughter again.
"Hey Jannik!" Emma said flippantly as she walked out the door and past Jannik to wait with Coco on the front path.
"Hey Emma, hey Coco." Jannik threw back which got a returning greeting from Coco. Jack was finally ready and slung his tennis bag over his shoulder, swinging the door shut and practically skipping down the path.
It really was a beautiful day, Jannik mused. Not too hot and with a slight breeze that disturbed his hair but didn't whip it into the usual frenzy. He felt a sudden content wash over him not only from the weather but from having Jack and Emma with him as well.
It was a nice feeling that he could settle into a comfortable silence on their walks and pass the time by listening to the siblings bickering.
The walk was short lived and the group found themselves soon at the front entrance to the tennis club their school had rented out for four weeks that summer. Jannik looked at his watch and breathed a sigh of relief. Just on time.
He heard Emma and Coco strike up another round of giggling. "Oh Jack~" Emma began in a sing-song tone. Jack whirled around with a dumb look on his face. "Isn't your top on back to front?" Emma inquired with faux politeness.
Jack looked down and cursed to himself. It was, and it was quite noticeable at that. "Ah. Jannik mate, give me a hand why don't you?" Jannik pulled a face.
"Really? Ugh, fine." The Italian moved forward and took Jack's bag off his shoulder. Jack began making a motion to pull his sleeveless tank over his head and he managed to get the bottom hem by his ears before Jannik grabbed the bottom to prevent it from going any further "Jack! Stop trying to take it off!"
"Hngr?" Jack's muffled voice came from underneath.
"Just take your arms out of the arm holes and turn it around." Jack made a sound of assent and pulled the top back down. He attempted to pull his left arm through the arm hole but caught his elbow in the material, somehow getting his arm stuck.
"Jannik! Help!" Jack actually sounded distressed. Jannik rolled his eyes and grabbed the shoulder of his jersey which Jack's hand was stuck under. Being his usual unhelpful self, Jack took this as a sign to stick his whole arm through the neck of his jersey, getting himself even more turned around.
"Jack! What are you doing..." Now Jack was really tangled up and he had somehow dragged Jannik into the mess as well who had stuck his own arm under the bottom to grab Jack's elbow and pull his arm down through the bottom. However, Jack was refusing to cooperate and was dangerously close to indecently exposing himself in front of a public facility.
They continued to tussle for a good few minutes before realising that Emma and Coco had gone surprisingly quiet. The blood ran from both of their faces as they slowly turned around and saw that the automatic doors had swung open, the pair were nowhere in sight and everyone in the tennis facility had stopped and turned around to see what they were doing. Jack chuckled awkwardly, "Heh, this is awkward."
Nobody responded so Jannik hurriedly sorted out Jack's jersey once and for all which had fortunately turned around in the tumultuous process. He took Jack by the arm and pulled him inside the facility and to a quiet corner. He could still hear Emma and Coco's giggles echoing in his mind.
Jannik flushed red and ran a hand through his hair. "Mamma mia, that was so embarrassing. Jack! What are we going to do?!"
"Would you be game for living in a cave in the mountains for a few years while this all rolls over?" Jack said.
Jannik actually took a moment to think about it. "I don't know... I'm tempted but I think that I would miss my papa's cooking too much."
"You're right. I would miss his cooking too much as well." Jack shook his head in disappointment. "Anyways, take a look around, I don't see that many people that we know at least!"
"Oh yeah... wait! Jack, why don't we know anyone here?!"
"Maybe we're the only losers that don't have a summer holiday lined up." Jannik expelled a breath of air and looked around the room. He really didn't recognise many people there. He spied Ben already spending his allowance on the sweets kept behind the counter and thankfully probably hadn't noticed their situation. He also recognised Iga from his history class and Taylor from his Physics class.
Other than that, most people around him were new faces which made him just that bit more nervous. Jack however, seemed to have already forgotten about their memorable entrance and was looking around with absent eyes.
"Jannik my friend, all of my dreams are about to come true."
"For the last time Jack, my dad is not taking you on a two person road trip to Scotland."
"Okay, okay. *Almost* all of my dreams are about to come true. Look at that girl over there." Jack pointed through the crowd of people to a girl with long brown hair pulled into a pony tail talking with a tall blonde.
"Get ready to watch my magic at work." At that, Jack actually licked his fingers and slicked down his eyebrows, something Jannik knew he definitely learnt from a movie.
"Jack! You're not gonna leave me already are you?"
"Ugghh. You could try talking to her friend, the blonde?"
"She genuinely looks like she could kill me with one punch. I am not doing that." Jannik raised an eyebrow at Jack who raised both of his own back at Jannik.
"Jan. If you want to get huzz, you have to talk to them first.” Jannik grimaced. He knew this was a summer of opportunity but if he was being honest, no one had quite caught his eye. Even as he looked around, he couldn’t see anyone that he would fancy going on a date with. There was a girl with headphones on near the back door with the most immaculate fashion sense Jannik had ever seen but she didn’t make him feel any way beyond jealous. There was another shorter blonde talking to a girl who had wavy hair and kind eyes but Jannik was almost certain she was too young for him. There were others but Jannik continued to lack interest.
Nevertheless, Jack dragged Jannik over to his newest target.
“Hey ladies, what brings you here?” The blonde and brunet shared a glance and looked like they were struggling to hold back a laugh.
“Tennis,” the brunette said.
“Oh yeah?” Jack retorted, “Funny enough, me too.” He held out a hand. “I’m Jack, who do I have the pleasure of talking to?” The brunette took his hand.
“Jess.”
“How funny! Two Js…” Jannik began tuning him out and felt a pair of eyes on him. He turned and found Jess’ friend burning a hole through the side of his face.
“Ciao, I’m Jannik. It’s nice to meet you.” He began semi-nervously. Who could blame him? Her gaze was incredibly intense and made him want to shrink under the scrutiny. Suddenly, the blonde broke out into a radiant smile and took his hand in an enthusiastic shake which Jannik could swear made his bones creak.
“I’m Aryna, I remember you.”
“You do?”
“Yeah! You made quite the entrance, the pair of you. If I’m being honest, I thought the two of you were a thing before your friend made a move on Jess!” Jannik flushed a deep red and stuttered out a laugh.
“NO NO” He began too loudly, wincing at his own volume. “Definitely not. Jack and I are like brothers, he’s also a really nice guy when you get to know him. I know he comes across strongly. He’s also really intent on finding a girlfriend over the next two weeks.”
“And you?” Aryna began teasingly, crowding him slightly only for Jannik to take a nervous step backwards. “Are you interested in such things?”
“Egh,” Jannik drew out, looking around while he tried to formulate an answer. Jack was still fully enraptured in his conversation with Jess and Jannik still wasn’t quite brave enough to make steady eye contact with Aryna.
A sudden commotion came at just the right time, providing a distraction for Jannik to avoid answering the question.
There was muffled yelling from behind the front double doors and a shadowy figure appeared beyond the frosted glass. As the doors began to swing open, a figure was revealed yelling back to a car with the driver’s window rolled down.
“Dios mío Roger, leave now, por favor!” There was a muffled response from the car before it started rolling away at a leisurely pace with the driver continuing to wave at the new figure. The boy began to mutter in rapid Spanish to himself, throwing an arm up in defeat and shaking his head in exasperation.
By this point, most people’s eyes had been drawn to the new boy but none more than Jannik’s who had gone slack jawed the moment those doors had opened. Never in his life had he seen someone as attractive as this new guy and he was sure that he never would again.
He was noticeably shorter than Jannik but also looked stronger with broad shoulders that Jannik couldn’t linger on for too long lest he turn as red as his hair. He had tanned skin and dark brown hair kept short but artfully messy.
The boy turned around, surveying his new surroundings and almost immediately locked eyes with Jannik. Jannik could almost physically feel electricity flow between their gazes.
‘Wow,’ the Italian thought, ‘he has the most beautiful eyes.’
The doe-eyed angel had similarly stopped in his tracks, mouth parted slightly in awe, tennis bag hanging limply from one shoulder.
“Ah,” Aryna smirked to herself, “I think I have my answer.”