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It was the tears clouding your eyes that Jamie remembered the most as he walked down the office hallway. The argument rang through his mind and Jamie cringed internally at the way he had spoken to you.
“Jamie, you’re not listening to me.”
“No, you don’t understand, y/n. I don’t have football anymore, and this could be huge for me. Otherwise, I have nothing! You’re just trying to hold me back.”
You froze and your face crumpled as though you had been struck. “If that’s what you think, I’ll just leave then.”
Jamie sat through the meeting and tried to put on a happy face. It was a good deal, and after burning bridges at both Richmond and Manchester it was the best he could hope for. But there was a moment before he signed the papers in which he imagined a life where you signed this contract and lost you forever.
“Sorry, mates, but I have to go.” he said, dropping the pen before running off without any other explanation.
Jamie laughed to himself as he drove through traffic and quickly found himself pounding on the door to your flat. You opened up with an unimpressed look, but before you could turn him away, Jamie spoke up.
“Look, I was a prick. I see that now, and I’m sorry. You deserve so much better, and I want to work to become a better version of myself. And I want you to know that I couldn’t go through with it, I didn’t sign the deal.”
Taken aback, you steeled your emotions and gripped onto the door. “You have to mean it, Jamie. This can’t just be a fling or a promise you throw away the next day. I need to know you want to be in this for the long haul.” you warned.
People had tried to say you with pretty words and sweet confessions, but always pulled away in the end. You refused to let that happen again. Especially not with Jamie, it would just hurt too much.
Jamie looked hurt at your words but nodded, understanding where they were coming from. “I am in this for the long haul. I guess I realized that with everything to win, the only thing I lose is you. And I don’t ever want that to happen.” he confessed.
Without warning, you launched yourself at Jamie and wrapped your arms around him, tears streaming down your face. It wasn’t going to fix everything, but it was a start, and you could work with that.