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Ted loves airports, he always has. There’s something about them that he just finds magical. An airport is a place where so many different people are all coming together with the same general purpose, yet their stories and reasons are all so vastly different. Ted is fascinated by the thought of all those people going to all those places for all those reasons. You never know who you might run into at an airport.
And that’s not even taking into account the inherent rom-communism of airports. The idea of running through an airport to declare your feelings - although much more difficult now - still enchants him, and very few things hit him as squarely in the chest as airport reunions, romantic or otherwise. That video of the grandma and grandsons all wearing dinosaur costumes to surprise each other at the airport still makes him laugh and cry in equal measure every time he watches it.
So yes, Ted loves airports. But today, walking through the airport toward the gate that will lead to the airplane that will take him back to Kansas and away from Richmond, well, today that love is dimmed a bit.
He has to go back to Kansas. He has to be there for Henry. He can’t let his son down any more than he already has. These are the things that Ted keeps repeating to himself as he walks through the airport, fighting the rising urge to turn around and run right back to - no. He has to go back to Kansas. He has to be there for Henry.
He’s passing a newsstand when she catches his eye - of course she does. He’s always had the ability to pick her out, no matter where she might be, even if it’s just her picture on the front page of the papers. He steps up to the stand, smiling a little at the reversal of fortune, as it is finally Rupert who is being mocked in the press and she’s the one being celebrated. It’s what she deserves.
His heart clenches even as he picks up the paper. It’s a great picture and it’ll be a nice souvenir to take back with him, even if it’ll hurt every time he looks at it. He’s pretty sure that everything that reminds him of his time in Richmond will hurt when he’s back in Kansas, but he doesn’t dwell on that fact for too long. He grabs a copy of Beano from the next shelf down - maybe it will help distract him on the plane and, if nothing else, at least Henry will get a kick out of it - and pays for the two items, even as he hears the first boarding call for his flight.
He glances down at the paper in his hands, Rebecca’s face looking back up at him. He feels the urge to turn around again and he shakes his head, repeating the mantra he’s been clinging to for these past few days. He has to go back to Kansas. He has to be there for Henry.
“Woah!” His mantra is interrupted by a voice that sounds strangely familiar. “Are you Ted Lasso?”
He stops, turning to take in the person talking, and can’t help but smile as he sees the same face that had been on his flight to London the first time, now standing in front of him three years later as he prepares to leave. That’s a full-circle moment right there.
Somehow, though, it doesn’t bring him as much joy as these things usually would. Another door closing on something beautiful.
“Yeah, I’m one of ’em,” he answers. He’s not vain enough to think that he’s the only Ted Lasso on the planet, although he thinks he’s the only one who is semi-famous here in London. But he doesn’t want to assume. Maybe there’s some other Ted Lasso out there that this man knows.
And that doesn’t even take into account the idea of the multiverse, which Henry sure does love. Ted tries not to think too hard about Henry and Marvel movies and Thanos glove toys and how his own life has changed in a snap so many times it’s getting hard to keep track. But he finds that, even still, he likes the idea of the multiverse. The idea of all those Teds out there in all their different forms.
He wonders about them sometimes in his more fanciful moments - thinks about how similar and how different they might be to him. He wonders if there is some Ted out there who never lost his father or who never got divorced. Is there a version of him out there that turned down Rebecca’s job offer? That never came to London, never met her at all? He’s not sure that he can imagine any version of himself now that doesn’t know that universe’s version of Rebecca, but he supposes that there have to be some universes where they never meet at all.
If that’s the case though… he allows himself a second to ponder the other universes where he not only meets Rebecca but… he doesn’t leave her. He imagines, just for a moment, that there could be a universe out there where a version of him has everything he’s ever wanted - Henry living with him in Richmond and - no.
He shakes off the thought and focuses back on the person in front of him.
“Oh, mate, it sucks about Richmond coming in second. Man City are just too good, yeah.”
“Yeah.” He sighs. The reminder stings. They hadn’t won the whole fucking thing like he’d promised they would, like Rebecca had wanted. He thinks of spit tea and a soft pink dress and he wishes for the thousandth time that he could stay, that he could keep the promise he made to her, even if she didn’t know at the time that it was a promise. But it had been. And he’s breaking it now. It feels like he’s breaking a lot of things now.
“You heading home for a cheeky visit?” the young man asks with a grin, and Ted’s heart aches with a wish that he won’t allow himself to make.
“I’m heading home for good actually,” he says but, in the back of his mind, he hears Rebecca’s words echo once again. I just want you to consider the possibility that this is your home.
As though reading his mind, the young man frowns. “That’s stupid.”
Ted blinks in surprise. It’s the first time that someone has said anything against his plan to go back to be with Henry. Rebecca had been upset, of course, and offered him options to stay – asked him to stay – but she hadn’t actually told him that it was a bad idea to go back. She’d told him that she respected it. The boys, Keeley, Higgins, Trent, heck, even Roy… they’d all been sad, but understanding. No one had actually given voice to the thought that going back might not be a good idea. Not until this plucky young man, who had no qualms about speaking his mind.
“Should’ve stayed, crushed it. Legend,” he goes on and Ted has to fight not to wince. He can’t stay and he can’t listen to someone telling him he should for even a second longer because he just might - no.
“Just a bit unlucky at the end,” he finishes and Ted feels his lips quirk. Just a bit unlucky at the end. Isn’t that always the case for him?
“Can I get an ussie?” The young man stops his train of thought before it has a chance to skitter down a track that it’s probably best it doesn’t take.
“Yeah, sure,” he agrees, another full-circle moment coming to a close. Another door closing.
“Sick.” He poses, pushing a smile across his lips, feeling it pull in a way that’s almost unpleasant. The picture looks fine on the phone screen, even if Ted knows that he’s more dead-eyed and hollowed-out in this one, on his way home to his son, than he was in the first one, taken when he was flying 4,000 miles away from his home and family. Again, Ted pushes those thoughts down, as he feels a pat on his shoulder.
“Wicked,” the man grins as he walks away.
Ted nods, the word coming out of his mouth automatically, a silly pun response that suddenly takes on weight as he hears it aloud in his own voice. “Oklahoma!”
He hadn’t meant to say it. He’d meant to say another musical, any other musical. But somehow, instead of Kinky Boots or Avenue Q or any of the other thousands of musicals out there, the one that came out of his mouth was Oklahoma!
The word seems to echo, in his head, if not in the air around him. The young man is gone, lost to the airport, but Ted is stuck in place, with ‘Oklahoma’ set free, the power of it swirling around Ted. And it does have power – different now than when the concept of it had first been introduced to him.
He had used it so much when Dr. Jacob had first suggested it, trying anything to get inside Michelle’s head and understand what it was that she wasn’t saying. It wasn’t until months later – when he was sitting in Rebecca’s office, telling her about it, an ice pack pressed against his forehead, that the realization finally hit him. He had used the word so often in those months leading up to his departure to England, but Michelle – she had never used it. Not once.
He tried to tell himself that was a good thing, that it meant that he was open and honest with her and she didn’t feel like he was keeping things from her, didn’t feel any need to use the word on her end. But the truth, he realizes now, is that, at best, it showed how very disconnected his wife actually was from him and, at worst, it showed that she didn’t honestly want to know what Ted was thinking and feeling inside. She was fine with the façade he presented to her – to the world at large – and she didn’t want to truly see him in all his mess.
But Rebecca had. At a time when she had still been working against him, doing her best to ignore his attempts at jumping over the fences between them to establish a friendship, she had taken to heart what he had told her. And now, two years later, at moments when he was pushing things down and bottling them up, she had seen what he was doing. She had noticed him withdrawing, and refused to let him hide. She had brought back Oklahoma. And though he’d thought the word – and musical – to be ruined for him, coming from her, in her accent, with the tone of her voice, it had felt… different. Special. Like she really wanted to know him – all of him. And when she saw the mess that was underneath, she didn’t mind it.
That’s why we get along.
Now, however accidentally – or purposefully, perhaps, in his subconscious – he has invoked the word again, only this time, he’s invoked it towards himself. He can’t hide or repress his feelings anymore. He’s got to tell the truth and he’s got to tell it to himself.
It’s there in the middle of the airport that he finally allows the walls he’s built up around his heart since the moment he saw his mother sitting on a bench outside his flat – hell, since the moment he’d heard that gunshot all those years ago - to finally come down. He lets the emotional detachment go and allows himself to finally, truly reflect on the last few days and, then, the last few years. His move, his divorce, the wins, the losses, therapy, Henry, the team, all of it rushes through his mind.
Oklahoma, Ted. God’s honest truth.
The truth is that he’s terrified – of letting Henry down, of saying goodbye to Richmond, of being too much and yet still somehow not enough. The truth is that he loves his mother, but he also hates the way they never really talk about things and the way that she is constantly focused on what she thinks and wants and doesn’t seem to really care about how he’s feeling or what is truly best for him. The truth is that he doesn’t want to go back to Kansas, where far too many of his demons still reside, because he knows that if he does, all the progress he’s made will be destroyed. He wants to stay here in Richmond, where he’s built a community, a family. He wants to call Michelle and lay everything out, finally tell her how he actually feels about the end of their marriage, the effects of their divorce, her dating Dr. Jacob, him being away from Henry, and all of it. He’s tired of always being the one to bend, to give in, to give all of himself to others to make them happy without getting anything back in return.
He wants to be happy. He wants to take Rebecca up on her offer, bring Henry here, keep coaching the team and win the whole fucking thing. For Richmond – and for her. He wants to keep bringing her biscuits every day, keep seeing her smile, watching her shine. He wants Rebecca in his life in whatever way she’ll allow, because the God’s honest truth is that he loves Rebecca – he’s in love with Rebecca. He loves her in a way that he doesn’t think he’s ever loved anyone, because he sees her in a way that no one else ever has – and she sees him, all of him, and accepts him.
It took everything in him to sit silently next to her while she implored him to stay, knowing he couldn’t. He couldn’t choose his own happiness over being there for his son – and he couldn’t allow himself to consider that maybe this was the universe where he could have everything – Henry here in Richmond. Henry and Rebecca both. Because if he thought about it, believed in it, and then Michelle said no… it would destroy him even more than if he never allowed himself to hope for it at all.
But the God’s honest truth is that this is what he wants. This is what he would give anything to have. And although he knows he probably doesn’t deserve it, that he shouldn’t want it, he does. He wants it more than anything. And he’s so tired of giving all of himself and no one meeting him halfway. Heck, at this point, he’d settle for someone meeting him a quarter of the way, if they’d just move to meet him at all.
And suddenly, as he looks down and sees her face staring back up at him from the paper, ‘49%’ standing out in bold letters above her face, it hits him. She’d gone more than halfway in the stands. She’d offered him everything, not just in a rom-com way, but in a real, practical way – thoroughly researched and thought through. And maybe she didn’t mean it in exactly the way he might want her to – maybe she wasn’t trying to get him to stay because she’s in love with him too. But maybe she was.
And even if she wasn’t, the options she laid out are still there. Even if she wasn’t, she had still gone 49% of the way for him. He could go that extra one percent. It was so much less distance than he’d ever had to go before. He could call Michelle. He could fight to make it work. He could still have Henry and the team and his friends, Rebecca included. He could still be happier than he’d ever be back in Kansas.
He’s broken out of his thoughts by someone bumping into him as they hurry down the corridor towards the gate, another boarding call echoing overhead. It’s time for him to get on the plane. But the God’s honest truth is that he doesn’t want to get on that plane – and he’s not going to. For once, he’s going to make the choice to put himself first.
His fingers tighten on the newspaper and he nods, moving forward, away from the gates and back towards the entrance to the airport – back towards London and the woman who owns his heart. Maybe it’s too late, but he’s got to at least try.
He makes it outside the doors of the airport, pulling in a full, deep breath, when he hears it.
“Ted Lasso!”
He turns, his eyes widening in surprise when he catches sight of the person calling his name. Another full-circle moment. “Ollie? You here to pick someone up?”
“Just dropped someone off, actually,” Ollie replies and it could be just a coincidence, but Ted chooses to take it as a sign.
“So, could you give me a ride?” he asks.
“Of course, my friend. It would be my pleasure. Where can I take you?”
“To Nelson Road, Ollie.” Ted grins, following him towards his car. “And no stops this time. I’ve got something very important I’ve got to go do.”
**
He calls Michelle once he’s settled in the car and, expecting to get her voicemail, he plans to leave her a message telling her he hadn’t gotten on the plane and not to worry but that he’d explain everything later. Instead, he’s surprised to hear her confused voice through the line.
“Ted? Is everything okay? Did your flight get delayed?”
“I – I didn’t get on the plane, Michelle. I just couldn’t do it. I went to the airport this morning, fully planning on leaving. I checked my luggage – huh, wonder what’s going to happen to that now?” He takes a moment to ponder that, before continuing on. “I went through security. I was almost to the gate, almost to the plane – they were making the boarding calls, in fact – but then – there was this kid there in the airport – the same kid that was on our flight to London three years ago, if you can believe that – and he told me that going home was stupid and he asked me for a selfie and – and he Oklahomaed me – or well, actually, I Oklahomaed myself. But it made me realize that he was right. Movin’ back to Kansas is stupid. It’s not what I want. I don’t want to give up this life that I’m building for myself here, because I finally feel happy here. The only thing that’s missing from my life here is Henry and I know he needs me and he misses me, and there’s nothing I love more than that little boy, Michelle, you know that, but – but Rebecca asked me to stay, Michelle. She gave me options, things we can think about, and I want us to at least talk about them, to at least think about them, because – she asked me to stay. And I – I love Henry but I also love it here and I also love her–”
“Oh, Ted,” Michelle says softly.
“And I don’t know if she feels the same way I do. I mean, I hope she does. But I could be readin’ things wrong because I’m not always the best at readin’ women’s emotions, as you well know, but – I realized in that airport that I couldn’t leave without at least trying. Trying to find a way to be happy, trying to find a way to have Henry as a bigger part of my life here, and trying to see if there’s even a chance that Rebecca feels the same way I do. And I know that this is a lot to tell you right now, especially because it’s so early there but I just had to –”
“Ted!” Michelle practically shouts, finally cutting through his rambling.
“Huh?” he sounds taken aback and much younger than he ever has.
“Ted,” she says more softly now, her tone soothing. “There’s a lot there that we need to unpack. But it’s alright. It’s going to be alright. We’ll talk about all of it later. We’ll figure it all out later. For now, just go get your girl, Ted.”
There’s silence then, as he tries to figure out what to try to choke out past the lump in his throat her words have caused. Before he’s able to come up with anything, his phone buzzes against his ear. He pulls it back to look at it, his eyes widening when he sees the contact name.
“Oh, shoot, Michelle, Beardo’s callin’ me. I didn’t tell him I wasn’t comin’. He’s probably worried about me. I - I gotta take this.”
“Of course. We’ll talk later. Be happy, Ted.”
“I’m tryin’.” He nods softly before clicking over to Beard’s call.
“Ted,” Beard says as soon as he hears the line connect, “where are you? They’re doing last calls for boarding and –”
“I’m sorry, buddy, but I got almost to the gate before the Ussie kid and Oklahoma knocked some sense into me and I realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t leave. I’m not done here yet. And I’m in love with Rebecca. So I’m currently in the back of a car, on my way to Nelson Road to tell her I love her and to beg her to tear up my resignation letter.”
“You’re what?”
“I know, I know, it’s crazy but, in the words of the great Billy Crystal, when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
“But Ted, Rebecca is–”
“Way outta my league? I know, Beardo. But like The Chicks sang, I can love her better. I can love her better than anyone else. I know I can.”
“No, Ted, you don’t understand. Rebecca is–”
“She asked me to stay, Willis. And I – I thought that I couldn’t. I thought I had to leave for Henry. I told her I couldn’t and she still – she still went 49% of the way. So I’m gonna go that extra 1% for her.”
“Well, in the words of both Nick Fury and Hope Van Dyne, it’s about damn time! But you’re not listening to me, buddy. Rebecca is–”
“This is the final boarding call for Flight 822 to Kansas City. Would passengers Willis Beard and Theodore Lasso please report to the gate for boarding?” The boarding announcement interrupts Beard.
“Oh shoot, you better go if you’re gettin’ on that plane. Although – and I know it’s a lot to ask – but if we’re gonna win the whole fucking thing next season, I could really use my best friend beside me. So if you wanna just not get on the plane and catch a ride back to Nelson Road – hey, speakin’ of, you’ll never guess who’s drivin’ me! Ollie!”
“Ted! I can definitely get a ride back because–”
“You can? Good. Great! Then I’ll see ya soon, okay? Wish me luck!”
He hangs up before Beard can respond.
**
He’s out of the car before Ollie has even fully come to a stop outside of Nelson Road, although he does take the time to run up and pull open the driver’s side door, hugging Ollie tightly in thanks before shoving a handful of bills into his hand and rushing for the doors.
He takes the stairs two at a time, trying to reach her office as quickly as he can. He doesn’t even take the time to knock like he usually does, just bursts through the door, only to find that she isn’t there. The room is empty.
“Boss?” he calls just to be sure, but it quickly becomes obvious she’s not there. With a small frown, he sets out to look for her, thinking perhaps she’s in another part of the building. He checks the press room, the boot room, the locker room, the coaching offices – he hopes it’s still his office by the time the day is done – but he comes up empty-handed in each place. The whole building is deserted, no sign of anyone about, really, and he wonders if perhaps she’s taken the day off and given everyone else the day off too. A Ted and Beard Leave for Kansas holiday, perhaps. The thought makes his heart clench.
He's tried so hard over the last few days to tell himself that it wasn’t about him – that his departure wouldn’t really hurt anyone. But now that he’s being honest with himself, he knows that this isn’t true. He isn’t good at goodbyes and, yet, he’d made everyone say goodbye to him, while giving them nothing in return. He’s got a lot of making up to do, to no one more than Rebecca, if only he can find her.
He almost decides to leave Nelson Road altogether and head for her house, but something stops him. The memory of one other place she might be. He changes direction and heads for the stands, his heart aching as he goes.
When he gets there though, the stands are empty. He frowns as his eyes scan over them, just to be sure she isn’t here, and then he turns out to face the pitch. Tears gather in his eyes as he looks out over this place and he wishes more than anything that he could go back in time, could sit back down in these seats with her next to him and tell her that, yes, he wants what she’s offering. But he can’t. And he can’t even find her to tell her now.
He shakes his head and begins to walks slowly back down the stands until he’s reached the pitch. He turns to head back inside when he hears it.
“TEEEEHD!”
He spins around, his eyes searching her window, but it remains closed. “Rebecca?”
“TEEEEHD!” comes the shout again and, this time, he turns towards it, seeing her at the entrance to the pitch that comes in from the parking lot.
“Rebecca!” He takes off at a run, his heart pounding as he watches her kick off her high heels and start towards him too.
They meet halfway – or maybe 49 and 51 percent of the way, but it’s close enough for Ted – and he pulls her into his arms immediately. “Rebecca, I–”
“You bloody wanker!” she cuts him off, sobbing into his ear, clutching him tightly. “I was at the fucking airport!”
Ted startles at that, pulling back to look at her tear-streaked face. “Wh-what?”
“I went to the airport and bought a ticket–”
“A first-class ticket,” Beard’s voice comes from behind them.
“Shut up, Willis,” she nearly growls, her eyes still on Ted. It makes him chuckle, even as he holds her tighter. “But yes. I bought a first-class ticket so that I could get through security and wait at your gate to…” she shrugs, “say goodbye? Beg you again to stay? Tell you I love you? I hadn’t really planned it all out. But it didn’t matter, because you never showed up.”
Ted’s head is spinning. “You went to the airport? You were waiting at the gate?” She was right there, just meters away from where he stood when he had his epiphany, and he didn’t know it. He left her behind twice, and she still came after him.
“Just like Ross going after Rachel, Coach,” adds Beard. “Only you never got on the plane for us to wonder if you’d get off.”
It’s then that the rest of what Rebecca said seems to register for him. “You love me?”
She gives another small sob as she nods. “Yes. I love you, Ted, you wanker. I thought I’d made it clear, but–” she shakes her head as more tears slide down her cheeks. “I went to the airport to try one last time, because I love you and I can’t imagine my life without you in it. But you weren’t there because apparently you realized that you love me, or at least that’s what you told Beard, and I’m hoping it’s true because”
“It’s true. It’s true.” He reaches up and cups her face, wiping away her tears. “Rebecca, I love you. And you were right. This is my home. I want to stay. Please, say that I can stay.”
“Yes, Ted. Stay.”
They both smile as they finally move together - sharing their breaths, their hearts, their love, in a kiss that simultaneously feels like it’s been building forever and is happening suddenly and out of nowhere. It’s a culmination of everything they are, were, and will be to each other, and it’s perfect.
Until Rebecca suddenly pulls back, her hand clutching at Ted’s neck, her eyes slightly wild. “But, Ted, what about Henry?”
Ted smiles so widely at her, his cheeks hurt. “Well, it turns out that the woman I love had some pretty great solutions all laid out for me and I was just too much of a wanker to consider them at the time. But now…” He presses his forehead against hers.
“Now?”
“If they’re still on the table, I’d like to discuss them with you. And Michelle and Henry. I called her on the ride over and – well – she knows that I’m planning on staying. She said we’d figure the rest out.”
Another sob escapes Rebecca as she pulls him back in. She kisses him. “Yes.” Again. “Anything.” And again. “Whatever it takes.”
He shakes his head when he pulls away. “Damn, I love you.”
She looks him in the eye, her expression serious. “I mean it, Ted. Whatever it takes. Because I cannot – I will not – imagine my life without you in it. So you, Coach Lasso, aren’t going anywhere.”
He smiles as he tightens his hold on her, lifting her up to spin her around. She lets out a yelp, but then laughs when he puts her back on her feet. “Is this where I promise that we’re gonna win the whole fucking thing next year?”
“I believe it is.”
“Mmm. Well, Boss, so long as you’re willin’ to tear up those letters of resignation from Beardo and me, I promise you that we’re gonna do everything in our power to win the whole fucking thing for Richmond – and for us, next year.”
“It will give me the greatest pleasure to send those letters through the shredder, love.”
“Well, alright then. Now normally this here is where we’d ceremonially seal the deal, huh? But I ain’t got any sparkling water on me and you ain’t got no garbage water on you – thank goodness – so I think we’re gonna have to settle for swappin’ spit another way. Do y’all say that over here? Swappin’ spit. It means–”
“I know what it means, Ted.” She rolls her eyes at him. “Now, in the words of Candice Bergen, shut up and kiss me.” She smirks and then, before he has a chance, continues with the line – “Oh hell” – before pulling him in for another kiss.
He’s not sure how long they stand there, wrapped up in each other, making out on the pitch. He only knows that, by the time they finally stop, Beard is gone. He knows that they still have things to talk about, but right now, there’s something else he wants to do.
“Hey, Rebecca, you up for going on our first official date tonight?”
“Yes.” She smiles at him. “You have something in mind?”
“I thought we could maybe try to get tickets to go see Oklahoma! in the West End.”
She lifts an eyebrow. “Oklahoma!? Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a newfound appreciation for the word. Think I’d like to revisit the musical with you. Because now, whenever I hear Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ or Surrey with the Fringe on Top or–”
“People Will Say We’re In Love,” she offers and his eyes light up.
“Or People Will Say We’re In Love, I’ll think about how much I love you.”
“Well, then Oklahoma! it is tonight.” She kisses him again before taking his hand, tangling their fingers together. “But for now, let’s go home.”
Ted squeezes her hand as they begin to walk.
Home.
He likes the sound of that.