Chapter Text
If Lily had her way, she would be relaxing in a nice warm shower, blasting her oldies playlist. But instead, she sitting in a fancy club, wedged in a booth with Marlene, still wearing her blue football jersey, sweaty blue headband, and her white socks.
Emmeline, sitting across from the three of them, greeted Dorcas as she returned with a round of drinks. Marlene happily forced a drink in Lily’s hand, who raised it up as everyone cheered, then set it back on the table.
“Lighten up Lily, you haven’t been out in ages,” Dorcas sighed, shoving the drink back into her hand.
Lily wrapped her fingers around the shot glass but didn’t attempt to raise it. “I went out with you three weeks ago.” She tugged on the collar of her sweatshirt, which she wore despite the heat to cover up her team’s logo.
Marlene raised her eyebrows. “We haven’t seen you since then, and I know you haven’t been going out while you were traveling.”
“You know, if you just took off your sweatshirt, you might actually go home with someone tonight,” Emmeline giggled.
Lily groaned. That was the absolute last thing she had wanted to do at the moment. “I absolutely reek. No one want’s to go home with a female football player who needs a long shower.” She ran her fingers through her hair, still partially pulled back by a headband, feeling the sweat still sticking to her. “Besides, last time you dragged me out, I didn’t have a jacket, and all I got was some fleazebag trying to tell me that he didn’t care for female football because ‘girls aren’t as fast as guys’”.
The first time Lily had been forced to go out clubbing with her friends, it was Friday night after a long day of training. She had intended to head straight home afterwards, take a long shower, and heat up some old leftovers from a few days previous. It was the middle of their season, and between practices, games, and the travel in between, Lily had hardly been home for long enough to actually go grocery shopping.
Marlene, Emmeline, and Dorcas had waited for her outside of their training facility, refusing to budge when Lily had laughed them off. She missed them of course, and wished that she could see them more often, but she was focused on her training. The Women’s FA cup contenders would be approaching soon, and her team had a decent shot of making it. She also hadn’t told her friends yet, secretly hoping to accomplish it by herself, but the Olympics were approaching, and despite her young age, Lily was intent on making the British team this year.
When Lily had tried to beg off, making some excuse up about an early morning practice, Marlene had boldly asked one of her teammates what time practice was the next morning. When it had been later the next afternoon, Lily was out of excuses. She was forced into the car, dragged off to the club, sweaty, and still in her uniform.
She’d even tried to protest that the bouncer wouldn’t let her in when she smelled and looked like she did, but Marlene showed him Lily’s wikipedia page, and surprisingly, it was enough to get them all in.
The same thing had happened tonight, except Lily had just finished a game. They had won, but Lily felt like shit. Her team was probably out celebrating somewhere, but she had decided to just go home, not in a good mood. In all honestly, if Marlene hadn’t caught her going home, Lily might have even gone to the training facility for a bit more practice despite her exhaustion.
“You’re fit Lily, you gotta use it to your advantage.” Dorcas jutted her chin out towards the bar where there were a group of four guys ordering drinks. “I’m sure one of them isn’t an asshole.”
Marlene slid out of the booth, grabbing Lily’s arm and pulling her up and out. “Next round is on you.” Lily tried to protest, trying to sit back down, but Marlene slid in the booth before she could, refusing to budge. She groaned, but grabbed her wallet and headed towards the bar, flipping Marlene off.
It was pretty crowded, and Lily did her best to thread through the crowd without getting too close to anyone. Still, she got some odd looks as she made her way over. There was only one spot open, and as she approached, she flagged down the bartender, resting her arms on the counter, and tugging her sweatshirt up enough to cover her chin. The group of four men were still at the bar, and Lily guessed that they must be still waiting for their drinks.
While she waited, she played with the zipper of her wallet, thinking back to the game and replaying some of her mistakes in her head. It was a bad habit of hers, especially since she knew her coach would be showing her film in the next fews of what to work on, but with the olympic trials and championship so close, she couldn’t help it.
Her thoughts were interrupted almost immediately by the tall man next to her tipping his head back and laughing. As he did so, his back bumped against her shoulder, and he quickly turned around. “Hey, so sorry, I didn’t think anyone was there.”
Lily quickly waved off, smiling quickly and hoping that he wouldn’t notice her current state of disarray. But, he paused, looking her up and down quickly. “Lily Evans?”
Her eyes shot to his face. “Sorry?”
“You’re Lily Evans, right?”
She nodded, glancing over at the bartender, who was still serving someone else. “I’m sorry, have we met?”
He smiled, and Lily was a little taken aback as she suddenly realized how absolutely gorgeous this man in front of her was. His dark skin and his dark hair and his dark eyes made her want to jump him, right there and then. The man shook his head at her question, and his dark floppy hair landed in his eyes. With one hand, he stuck out his hand to shake hers, and used his other to push his hair back. “James Potter. You play for Chelsea, right?”
“Yeah, I do. How did…?” she trailed off, smiling slightly.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaning against the counter. “I’ve been a fan of Chelsea since I was little.”
“And you… watch women’s football?” Lily said, a little in disbelief that a random man was familiar enough with the women’s football team to recognize her. She usually started, but had only been playing with Chelsea for two years and was almost never recognized.
James shrugged. “I watch men and womens. I only caught the first half of your game today, but you played great!” He suddenly got even more attractive in a way Lily couldn’t explain
Lily wrinkled her nose almost immediately, but quickly tried to smooth her face into something a little more pleasant.
“You didn’t like how you played? You got a goal, and you guys won!”
Lily opened her mouth to reply, but the bartender came by, and she quickly placed her order, adding in her friend’s drinks and an order of fries for her. When she was finished, she turned back to James. She half shrugged. “I just - the second half didn’t go so well. I missed a few key passes, and I dunno. It just wasn’t what I needed the game to be.”
“But you guys should be set for the FA cup, right? This game pretty much cinched your spot, so unless you want to transfer to a different team…”
Lily shook her head quickly. “No, no, I’m glad we did well. And I like my coach and team a lot, I don’t want to transfer. I just…” She glanced over at her friends, who were watching her interaction with no shame. “Don’t tell anyone this, ok?” He nodded quickly, glancing over at where she was looking. Lily flushed a little bit as the corners of his mouth twitched as he saw her friends watching them. “I’m aiming for the Olympic team. And I was really hoping this game would put me a little better standing than I was before. I still have the next few games, and the trials, obviously, so it’s not over yet, but I was just hoping for a better game.”
James opened his mouth to say something, but one of his friends said something to him, and he half turned around to reply, quickly, still keeping his body facing towards Lily. The bartender finally arrived with her drinks, and informed her it would be a few minutes before her fries were out. James was still saying something to his friends, and she debated saying something else to him. She carefully picked up the tray, but decided against it and instead settled for a quick wave, and headed towards her friends.
When she arrived, she bumped Marlene’s hips to get her to scoot over, but she refused again. Lily rolled her eyes. “Marly, I got the drinks. I’ll even take a shot, but I just want to sit down -”
Emmeline didn’t even bother being discrete, pointing directly at James. “He’s cute.”
Lily folded her arms, burrowing into her sweatshirt. “Mm-hm.”
“Lily.”
Lily sighed. “I look like a mess. And I just… don’t have time, right now, ok?”
“Lily, you never have time. And so help me god, if you don’t go over and get his number, right now, I will give yours to him for you.”
Lily shot a death glare at Dorcas, but he really was cute, and she still needed her fries. So, she spun on her heel and walked back to her spot at the bar, sliding onto the stool next to him. He pulled away from his friends, and looked back at her. “So why are you at the club? Don’t you guys usually celebrate as a team?”
Lily bit her lip, not sure she wanted to give him the real answer. But she’d already told him about the trials, so she figured it wouldn’t hurt. “Honestly? I didn’t shower at the arena because I was planning on going to our training facility, maybe the disappointment out or something.”
“Aren’t you tired?”
The bartender slid her fries towards her, and Lily immediately shoved two in her mouth. “And starving.” She pushed them towards him, and he gratefully took a couple. “My friends ambushed me before I got there. Wouldn’t even let me shower, and somehow, they let me in.”
He eyed her for a second, eye flicking up to her headband and then back to her face. “You haven’t eaten yet?” Lily shook her head. One hand reached up to thread through his hair again. “Do you want to get out of here and go grab something else to eat? There’s a good diner just down the street we could walk to.”
Lily’s eyebrows raised, more than a little shocked at his question. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all. “Are you sure? I’m sure I smell for than a little right now.”
He grinned, plopping a few more fries in his mouth. “I don’t mind. A little sweat is good for the soul.”
Lily laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. “Yeah, let’s go. Let me just go tell my friends.” She grabbed the remainder of her fries and stood up, walking back towards her friends. She tried to keep her face neutral, but the second she got close, Marlene shrieked. “You got his number!”
Lily set the fries down, reaching over her to grab her phone and keys, quickly shushing her. “We’re going to get dinner.”
“Right now?” Emmeline asked.
“Now? Like, right now?” Dorcas echoed.
Lily ran her fingers through her hair, trying to seem a bit more presentable. She glanced back over at him, who was standing near the door. “Yeah, uh, sorry to leave, and sorry I’ve been gone so much, I just-”
“- Lily, we will forgive you, we know your bloody busy, and we love you, but only if you go right now and go snog him senseless.”
“-or shag him senseless. Either way.”
Lily grinned slyly at them. “I’ll text you guys later.” She turned around, her friends still laughing behind her to join him at the door.
“You ready?” He asked. Lily nodded, and swung the door open, more than a little excited to see how this would turn out.