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Jamie wasn’t sure what was happening. They’d just won, right? He should be overjoyed like the other lads. Promotion! Winning! Roy Kent not knocking his brains out of his skull! There wasn’t anything to be upset about. But here he was, in the middle of the Crown and Anchor, feeling all... off-kilter. He’s sure if Dr. Fieldstone were still here she’d say something about how not dealing with the bad stuff makes it pop up in the worst moments. But she’s not here. So Jamie’s going to finish the pint in front of him and watch Jan Maas and Dani play an incredibly confusing drinking game involving one of Colin’s shoes he’d forfeited.
“You doin all right, boyo?” The shoeless wonder in question sidles up next to him and slides another pint his way. Things between him and Colin had been… weird... since Jamie came back to Richmond. Colin had been fine, actually, Jamie had just been too embarrassed to talk to him after the whole psychotic power-trip bullying thing he’d had going on before leaving for Man City. To be honest Jamie just didn’t know how to interact with him. Even back in the day he’d had trouble with it. Something about Colin was just too genuine. Open. He’d always acted like he was more than happy to just hang out with him, more so than everyone else who had just wanted to be seen with him. All this to say, Jamie had realized after leaving Richmond that Colin had wanted to be his friend, and that made him profoundly uncomfortable.
“Yeah,” He replied, taking a drink, “Just wondering what they’re doing with the shoe”
“I’m not sure actually. I just figured it was a Dutch thing. Thought whatever I was about to see was worth more than the shoe”
He was probably right in the regard. The shoe, whose absence had left Colin’s turtle sock (which is kind of adorable actually, they've got little hands waving at him) visible to the whole bar, has just flown over Dani’s head and narrowly missed a very drunk, soon to be very angry, Isaac.
“Good of you to sacrifice for the cause”
Colin lets out a little laugh at that, which makes Jamie feel a little hot in the face. He’s probably just had a few too many beers. The beers are probably also why he can't think of anything else to say. Colin definitely thinks he’s a freak, sitting there staring at him just for laughing. He has a thought now, but it’s just about how good Colin looks in that jumper, and that would be a weird thing to say out loud to your teammate who you haven’t really talked to since you publicly bullied him. Colin’s probably pretty pissed at him, he realizes. He’s probably come over to tell him to fuck off and die, now that the season’s over and they don’t have to play nice anymore.
“I’m glad you came back to Richmond,” is what Colin actually says, looking down at his drink. There’s something about the way Colin says it, like he’s a little afraid to let that thought out of his head, that turns the heat in his face to a full-blown blush. Great, now he’s staring at Colin, looking like a fully ripe tomato and gaping like a fish. He’s definitely had several too many pints. “I've missed having you around.” Colin has the gall to look back up at him and smile. Like he hasn’t just made Jamie Tartt, football star and reality TV legend all but dissolve in the middle of a bar over a compliment. “Plus I don’t think we could’ve done all this without you. Winning is pretty nice.”
Colin gets up from his seat to go, and Jamie can barely process what’s already happened when Colin throws an arm around him and says, close enough that Jamie can feel his breath on his ear, which really isn't that close at all, he’s just pretty overwhelmed right now to be honest, “We’re all here, if you need anything. Not being alone and sad and all that jazz.” Then he grabs his head and plants a kiss on the side of it, like he does when Jamie scores out on the pitch. Which, if Jamie’s brain weren’t already out of commission, would have done knocked it out in one fell swoop.
It occurs to him, as Colin gets hauled up and spun in a circle by Isaac on the other side of the bar, that this is only his second pint. Looking at Colin’s smile, wild and carefree, he thinks that maybe Colin just makes him feel like that. Huh, maybe he should talk to Dr. Fieldstone about that. Maybe it’s a jealousy thing, or some sort of- Oh. Oh no.