Music thumped loudly through Finn’s veins. As much as he loved his brother, he would much rather be anywhere else than sharing a bar tab with the French team. Finn took a sip of his drink as he sat back down, looking over to where Alex and Kasey were engaged deep in conversation, trying to make out what they were saying. After a few futile attempts of lip reading he turned his gaze back to where the main party had gathered. He felt a presence in the seat beside him.
I am very excited for this. A huge massive thank you to @madsholland and @aapaige123 for betaing this!
Taglist: @fleetingpieces @spookypotato
As always, these characters belong to the WONDERFUL @lumosinlove
context points:
Six Nations: Rugby tournament between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy. Played yearly. Each team plays the other teams once each.
Grand Slam: when a team doesn’t lose a single match during the tournament.
Knock on: when the ball is dropped by a player and that same player picks the ball back up. This isn’t allowed.
Finn looked over to his brother helplessly, as the stadium erupted into cheers of celebration for France. Despite the overtime penalty kick, Ireland had lost pitifully, allowing France to pull away with their first Grand Slam title in twelve years. Alex just shook his head at his brother, eyes falling to the ground in an attempt to catch his breath. Everything else around Finn became white noise. Everything had been to play for, neither teams had lost a game before today, making the loss sting that much more.
“Chin up.” A hand clapped on Finn’s back. He turned round to face Remus. “It’s just another game.” He smiled. Finn laughed slightly and shrugged.
“Still disappointing though. Knut will take it hard, should probably be comforting him instead of me,” Finn mused. He accepted the water bottle from the water runner and squirted it into his mouth. His eyes trailed around the pitch to lock onto Leo’s. Finn’s breath caught in his throat slightly. Leo looked crestfallen, having accidentally caused a knock on which ultimately resulted in the try France needed to win. The team had fought to gain the points back, but still lost 15-13.
Finn started over to Leo, but was interrupted by James who guided him away from the rest of the field.
“Pots?”
“You know how you’re my favourite O’Hara, don’t you?” James questioned, a deviant smile sewed onto his face. Finn cocked an eyebrow.
“I’ll accept that, what do you want.”
“Would your brother be mad if we invited some of the French to his birthday tomorrow?”
Finn laughed. “You mean to ask, ‘Will my brother, our Captain, mind if we invited the team that just robbed us of a Grand Slam this year?’ I don’t know, James, you tell me.” Finn shook his head, smiling despite the crushing in his chest.
“When you put it like that…” James trailed off.
“I’m joking, I’m pretty sure he invited Kasey anyway, and no doubt he won’t want to go on his own. Just maybe bring it up gently,” Finn suggested. James nodded, clapped him on the back and walked off- no doubt to pull someone else into the party tomorrow evening. Finn grabbed a towel from a runner and wiped down his face, throwing it back down so he could shake hands with the French team. He went down the line, muttering congratulations to each player, giving a friendly head pat to Kasey Winter, and clapping Sirius Black on the shoulder. He did the same to Logan, but almost did a double take at the smirk that resided on his face.
“I’ve seen you play better, Harz,” Logan mused.
“And I’ve seen you kick from a further distance and not miss, Tremz. You really going to start that now?” Finn bit back.
On the whole, the French and the Irish teams got along relatively well. Kasey and Alex had been friends since their first run in at the World Cup a few years prior; James and Sirius had gone to the same boarding school in England- Finn was pretty sure there was actually something going on between Remus and Sirius, too. But the one rivalry that stood was Finn’s rivalry with Logan Tremblay. Ireland’s sweetheart loosehead prop versus France’s star hooker. It was rare that both boys made it through a game without causing a scene. The only saving grace being that any fighting would be an immediate red card and the team would have to play a man down for the rest of the game. It wasn’t that Finn hated the guy, it was just that he found Logan incredibly egotistical, way too boisterous, over-the-top and self-centered. Okay, maybe he hated Logan a little bit.
“Get over yourself, Fish. It’s not like you lost or anything.”
It took everything Finn had not to sock Logan one right there and then on the pitch, if only for the use of the nickname he had grown to hate. It also took a polite shove from James behind him but Finn pretended that it was his own willpower that pushed him down the line to shake hands and congratulate the rest of the French team. The walk down the tunnel took an age- the weight of the loss growing heavier on the team’s shoulders with every step they took. The last thing that Finn wanted to do was listen to their head coach drawl on about how well the team played and how it was ‘any man's game out there’. Thankfully, the speech was short and sweet.
The locker room was sombre, no one really wanted to air their thoughts on the outcome of the game but it seemed that James had something he was desperate to say, judging from the fact he was practically burning a hole into the floor.
“James, speak now or forever hold your peace because I can’t for the life of me deal with ‘Puppy James’ today,” Alex warned. James smiled and walked to the centre of the locker room, stopping the rest of the team in their various stages of undress.
“So, as you all know, it’s Harzy’s birthday party tomorrow.” Alex rolled his eyes. “Now normally I wouldn’t give a speech before the party, it’s a during party type thing but anyways,” he continued “the French are coming, and we have one opportunity to outdrink them and show them who’s boss.”
Finn felt a body behind him.
“It’s not like we just lost a cup to them or anything,” Leo chuckled, his voice low and hot against Finn’s neck. He took a shaky breath in, masking it as a cough.
“However,” James turned around and faced Finn, his finger pointing directly at his face. He felt Leo back up slightly. “There will be no fighting, will there Baby Red?” James raised an eyebrow.
“No fighting, I promise.” Finn smiled.
“Good, because we are here to celebrate Big Red and Big Red only.”
There were a few murmurs of agreement among the team causing James’ shoulders to slump a little.
“Give them a few hours, buddy, we’ve just lost,” Remus tried, clapping James on the shoulder lightly. Finn watched James turn away back to his stall, undressing in preparation for the showers. Finn turned around to find Leo stood right behind him. He smiled slightly, ignoring the tug in the pit of his stomach.
“You played well today,” Leo commented. Finn went to answer but his breath caught in his throat slightly at the sight of Leo before him.
“You didn’t play too bad yourself,” he replied, tugging his shirt off.
Leo Knut confused Finn. Finn had sworn not to fall in love with another player- let alone one on his own team. He wouldn’t say it was love yet, though. It was more, mutual pining; stolen kisses in the empty hallway; brief hand touches on nights out with the team; longing glances across the field. Finn loved being around Leo; he set off a raging fire within Finn that he wasn’t sure he wanted to put out.
He smiled back at Leo, making his way towards the showers to wind down after the game. He reflected on the game as he stood under the water, not wanting to dwell on it for too long but his mind kept wandering back to what he could have done better. He tried to shake the thoughts- to let them wash away with the mud and the grime from the pitch. He got out, grabbing his towel and drying his hair. As much as he appreciated and loved his team, the only place he wanted to be after a loss this big was his own flat, surrounded by no one and left to watch a movie or read a book.
He went through his cool down routine once he was changed, not talking to anyone, preferring to be with his own thoughts rather than anyone else’s. Still wrapped up in his own mind, he picked up his bag and went to leave, only stopping at the weight of a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find Leo following him, a small smile etched onto his face.
“I know after games like this you usually want to be alone, but I was wondering if you wanted to be on your own with someone there? If that makes sense?” Leo asked, cocking his head to the side as he tried to put his thoughts into coherent words.
Finn laughed slightly as he pushed through another set of doors.
“I’d like that, actually. I was going to order in though,” he confessed.
“Sounds good to me.”
--
Leo liked Finn. No, Leo like liked Finn. That much was made abundantly clear the first night that Finn had pushed him against the wall with his lips. It was the type of kiss that Leo knew wouldn’t be a one off- it was too fuelled with something that Leo couldn’t quite pinpoint. Since then, Leo couldn’t quite figure out what Finn’s deal was, there was something holding him back. He followed Finn out to his car, chucking his bag in the back seat and climbing into the passenger side. The drive back to Finn’s was quiet, Leo couldn’t figure out if it was an uncomfortable quiet or not, or if he and Finn were too in their own heads after the game to need to say anything.
He followed Finn up into his flat, toeing his shoes off as he placed his bag down by the door and walked over to the sofa, sprawling across it.
“Make yourself at home why don’t you,” Finn laughed, whacking Leo’s head with the menu from the local Chinese before he settled himself on the opposite side of the sofa, lifting Leo’s legs up so he could sit with them in his lap. Unintentionally, he started rubbing little circles onto Leo’s ankle as he looked through the menu. Leo smiled, head falling back onto the arm of the sofa.
“What’re you in the mood for, sunshine?” Finn asked. Leo shrugged in response.
“Whatever you’re in the mood for.”
Finn rolled his eyes at the cryptic response, picking up his phone and ordering one of the set menu options. He hung up, leaning forward to chuck his phone on the coffee table, along with the menu.
“It’ll be about an hour,” Finn said. Leo nodded in response as he lifted his head up to look at Finn, a tug in his lower stomach alerting him to the circles that Finn was rubbing into his ankle. Finn leaned his head back, turning to look over at Leo. Leo’s breath hitched.
“Finn…” he started. Leo sat up slightly as Finn moved his feet to the side, meeting in the middle and crashing their lips together. Leo’s hands immediately found their way to Finn’s hair, tugging in an attempt to pull Finn closer to him. He leaned back to lie on the couch, Finn sliding in between his thighs.
Finn’s kisses became more aggressive, pushing Leo further into the couch as his hands slipped underneath his shirt, thumbs rubbing harsh circles into his hips. Leo moaned slightly as Finn started to trail kisses across Leo’s jaw, down to the soft spot that Finn had discovered beneath Leo’s ear.
“Finn, I-” Leo was cut off by Finn grinding his hips down on him.
“Finn,” Leo tried again. Finn lifted his head up to look at Leo, making him forget every coherent thought running through his brain.
No matter how deeply lost Leo could get in Finn’s eyes, there would always be one thing gnawing at the deepest part of his subconscious. Who was Logan Tremblay to Finn and why could Leo cut the sexual tension between them with a knife?
It’s no secret that Ireland and France’s favourite players don’t get along. In fact, fans thrive on it. The glares on the field, the snarls behind closed doors; Finn O’Hara and Logan Tremblay can’t so much as stand the sight of each other.
But since Leo Knut came along, Finn’s been more grounded, happier, not thinking about Logan ‘Ego-too-big-for-the-shoes’ Tremblay. Leo struggles to find out what exactly caused the rift between the two players, and the answer isn’t what he expects.
I hope something makes you laugh today. I hope something makes you smile. I hope something makes you happier than you've been in a long time. You deserve to have a nice day. You deserve happiness.
shout out to the girls that hate their bodies but are trying really really hard to find the beauty and comfort in them because that shit is hard and takes a lot of time and is emotionally exhausting. i’m proud of y'all.
Plant diversity is important, and human diversity is too! 🌱 I’m glad we’re all different, and I hope all those differences are accepted and celebrated.
