Background Noise - AJ Barner
A/N: First fic for this guy! I had so many requests for a Super Bowl fic with him, so I thought I would treat you all and get this out. This was written very quickly, so please excuse any errors, spelling or otherwise! Very excited to start writing for AJ, so please do send in any requests. I cannot guarantee when I'll be able to get round to it, but please do send them in!
Pairing: AJ Barner x sports scientist!reader
WC: 2.5k
Warnings: None! Fluff for this first AJ fic to get an idea of his character 🫶
The atmosphere in the suite after any win is buoyant and celebratory.
It’s different today, though.
The Seahawks have just won their first Super Bowl in twelve years, making AJ a Super Bowl winner in only his second year.
You’re up in the Barner suite with Reva and his sisters, waiting not-so-patiently for the go ahead to go down onto the field.
Since the final whistle, your entire body has been simmering with excitement. Sheer, unbridled joy clouds your mind as Reva hugs you for what must be the fifth time in the last ten minutes.
‘He wouldn’t have got through this season without you, Y/N,’ she murmurs into your ear.
You squeeze her tightly.
‘He’s the one on the field, Reva. I just cheer him on.’ Your voice shakes as emotion finally threatens to spill over.
She pulls back and holds your shoulders, thumbs brushing the fabric of your custom Seahawks jacket that hides your BARNER 88 jersey, a surprise for AJ that you’ll reveal once you’re on the field with him.
‘That’s all he needs, sometimes. Someone who believes in him.’
Her words permeate through the fog in your mind. In the last six months of your relationship with AJ, you’ve come to realise just how unusual this life is. Being the girlfriend of any professional athlete was never going to be a walk in the park, but especially an NFL player with a career as bright as AJ’s.
You’re just a girl from Tacoma who met AJ by chance in a Seattle coffee shop when he accidentally spilled his drink all over you. He had apologised profusely and, when he found out that you were on a lunch break from the clinic where you worked as a sports scientist, gave you his team jacket to cover up the stain. He insisted on driving you back to the clinic and promised to buy you a coffee and pastry to make up for it.
As much as you had refused his offer, insisting that it was an accident, he returned less than an hour later with your exact coffee order and your favourite pastry tucked into a paper bag, still warm from the oven.
When you think back to that day and remember that jolt in your stomach upon seeing his number on the coffee cup after he left, with a scrawled note saying ‘keep the jacket! - AJ :)’, it’s hard to believe that you would end up standing up in the suite with his family, watching him and his team win the Super Bowl.
The world has a funny way of working, but you couldn’t be more grateful.
At last, a Seahawks staffer comes up to the suite to bring you all down to the field.
‘Here we go!’ One of his sisters says excitedly. ‘He’s going to lose his mind when he sees you in that jersey, Y/N.’
Nerves bubble in your stomach before you can stop them. AJ was very clear in wanting you in the suite with his family, but going down onto the field, wearing his jersey with his name and his number on…
It makes it real. The two of you agreed that keeping your relationship private was the best idea, especially with your work as a sports scientist. You work with plenty of local athletes, none as high calibre as AJ or his teammates, but it’s still enough to warrant keeping it private. You’ve been seen out together, rumours about AJ having a girlfriend have swirled in the city for weeks by now, but nobody has ever identified you.
Joining him on the field today will be the first concrete public confirmation of your relationship.
Reva seems to catch your nerves as you walk down the stairs closer to the field and reaches out to hold your hand.
‘Don’t stress, honey. He adores you, that’s all that matters. Anything else is background noise.’
You smile at her and pull her closer to give her an awkward side hug as you continue walking.
‘Thank you, Reva, for letting me join you today and… for your son.’
She waves off your thanks.
‘AJ was clear when he said he wanted you with him today.’
Warmth spreads around your chest, but any response disappears from your mind the second you step onto the field.
The only way you can describe it is walking right into a hurricane.
What hits you first is the wall of noise that deafens you. Confetti cannons blast blue and green confetti into the air, raining down around you like snow. Music is booming so loud that the bass makes your stomach shake.
Security personnel, photographers, coaches from both teams jostle around you. Reva reaches behind her to take your hand so you don’t get lost.
‘Make sure your pass is visible so you don’t get stopped by security!’ She has to shout it into your ear over the cacophony around you. You can only nod in response, completely overwhelmed, and move your pass around your body so it’s hanging around your neck with your name and photo clearly visible even from a distance.
‘Can you see him, Mom?’ Another of his sisters asks, craning her neck around the surging crowd on the turf. It’s surprisingly hard underfoot, reminding you of the pain AJ is in after every game. Knowing that he gets slammed into this turf every Sunday from September through January gives you a whole new lens to see him through. The sports scientist in you makes a mental note to research how to help him better now that you know this, but for now, you just want to find him.
It takes several minutes of searching and false alarms, but then - there - you spot him by the field goal with Sam, Kenneth and Jaxon, curls damp with sweat and a white cap perched jauntily on top of his head. His pads are still on, filthy with grass stains and mud.
‘There!’ You shout, already walking towards him without another thought.
You turn around to face Reva, worried that you’re taking her moment with her son away, but she just waves you on, mouthing ‘go on!’ at you.
So you do.
Your vision narrows to AJ and the way his form gets bigger and bigger the closer you get. The crowd is still jostling around you, and you almost trip up over someone’s feet, but you keep going.
Jaxon sees you coming and beams, then shoves AJ in the shoulder. You see him ask AJ something like ‘that your girl?’, pointing at you as he does so. You’re still too far away to hear for sure.
AJ whirls around in the direction Jaxon pointed in. His eyes meet yours and, for a second, it’s just the two of you on that pitch.
Everything else becomes… background noise.
You don’t register the way you’re still walking. You don’t even realise he’s running towards you.
Seconds and hours seem to pass by at the same time.
The cacophony becomes an oddly muffled melee of noise in your ears.
Time seems to warp.
And then he’s swarming you, arms circling around your waist and snapping you back to reality. The din in your ears resumes.
‘Oh my god,’ AJ croaks into your ear. His grip on you tightens, as if he’s scared you’ll fly away if he doesn’t hold you as physically close as possible to him, pads and sweat and all.
You squeak when you feel your feet leaving the turf, and then you’re airborne, flying through the air as he spins you around in a bear hug. The squeak turns into a mixture of a laugh and sob that shatters through his resolve. Both of you are shaking violently as the adrenaline reaches its peak.
‘Oh my god,’ he repeats, ‘you’re here.’ The words are sobbed into your neck. AJ sets you back down on your feet but keeps his hands tight on your hips, needing to keep hold of you to keep himself grounded. You reach your hands up to cradle his jaw. Tears are leaking out of his eyes, not that he seems to care.
Even from where she’s stood from several feet away from you, as she watches the exchange play out, Reva can feel the love pouring out of the two of you. Even without the emotion of watching her son win the highest honour in the NFL, the sight of you loving her son is enough to bring her to tears. She holds out an arm to stop one of his sisters from approaching you.
Neither you nor AJ notice it. For a few seconds, it’s just the two of you on that field.
‘AJ, you just won the fucking Super Bowl,’ you gasp out through a trembling sob of your own. You’re crying properly now, tears streaming down your cheeks. AJ leans down to rest his forehead against yours. Electricity crackles between you as his hands reach up to brush the tears from your cheeks. His fingers are shaking, but they’re just as warm and gentle as they always are with you.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
‘It doesn’t feel real, baby. I feel like I’m living in a dream.’
Your eyes meet his when they reopen, and once again, the world around you seems to halt on its axis.
‘This is real, AJ. I’m real, you’re here, you just won the Super Bowl. AJ, I am so fucking proud, I could burst.’
He laughs, it’s watery and tremors as it leaves his lungs, but his eyes crinkle and his dimples appear. You reach up and poke one of them, just like you always do when they appear. It’s a habit you’ve picked up without even realising.
AJ opens his mouth to say something, but then stops himself. One of his huge hands, still muddy from the turf, reaches up to brush confetti out of your hair. The action is so tender that it makes your heart ache.
‘Have you shown him what’s under your jacket, Y/N?’ Reva asks suddenly.
AJ looks over at his mom, then back at you.
‘What?’ He asks with a small smile on his face, almost like he knows what he’s about to see but wants you to show him before he can believe it.
It’s your turn to smile up at him, suddenly shy.
You take a couple of steps back from him, shrug off your jacket and turn around so your back is facing him. When you pull your hair up so he can see the way his last name is splashed across your back in bold, white writing, his face instantly drops in disbelief.
‘Oh my…’ he breathes. A hand reaches forward to trace the letters, like touching it makes it real to him.
You turn back around and step back into his space. His hands find the same spot on your waist, pulling you close to him. AJ’s looking down at you with glassy eyes and a trembling bottom lip, emotion threatening all over again.
‘I wanted everyone to know who I’m supporting tonight. Not just my football team, but my tight end. My guy.’
My tight end. My guy.
Those words are enough to break the dam.
His huge shoulders shake as one sob, then another, breaks free from his lungs.
‘You,’ he starts, then shakes his head in disbelief. ‘You are something else. You know that, right?’
You giggle through your tears.
‘Is that so, Barner?’
He kisses your cheek, then your temple, and finally the corner of your mouth. Heat pools in your stomach. AJ smirks when he feels your breath hitch in your throat, but doesn’t say anything, knowing that his mother can see and hear almost everything between you.
‘I’ve just won the Super Bowl, and then my girlfriend steps onto the field, tells me she’s proud of me and then shows me she’s wearing my jersey with my last name on it.’
He pauses. Takes a deep breath.
The look on his face reminds you of the way he looked at you on your first date; soft eyes, a slight smile on his face and furrowed brow, like he’s concentrating on you and only you.
‘I love you,’ he declares, voice raised so you can hear him over the din that’s still invading the space between you. There’s no hesitation in it. He says it as if it’s the only truth he knows, as if it’s the only truth in the world.
Your chest heaves again, but not with sobs. With relief. With shock. AJ’s arms tighten around you as your knees all but give out from under you, leaning on him for support.
‘AJ - oh my…’ You breathe. Then you swallow, or try to, through the lump in your throat, because you know you need to say it back. It’s the only truth you know. ‘I love you too, Super Bowl champ.’
He’s laughing, shaking his head as his feelings overwhelm him completely. He kisses the top of your head, then he’s holding your face with both hands, tilting your head up so he can kiss you properly.
It’s messy and uncontrolled, teeth clashing against each other. You sigh into his mouth when you taste the sweat on his lips, and you’re suddenly rocking up onto your tiptoes to kiss him properly. He grins this stupid, radiant grin into the kiss, as if he can’t quite believe that he’s kissing you with blue and green Super Bowl winner confetti floating down around you.
It’s a scene from a movie. Except it’s real life. This is AJ Barner’s life now, and he wouldn’t trade a single thing.
When you break apart, his nose bumps yours affectionately, and then he’s pulling you into his side, arm circling protectively around your shoulders to keep you safe against him.
‘If I’m called into media, you’re coming with me,’ he mutters into your ear. You beam up at him, eyes still glassy and lips swollen from the kiss.
‘You sure the people of Seattle want to hear from little old me?’
He kisses your forehead, smiling into your skin.
‘Anyone who has a problem with it can answer to me.’
And you don’t doubt that for a second.
You watch as Reva steps forward to hug her son, finally, and you give them space. The atmosphere is electric, it’s chaotic and people are still jostling around you. AJ doesn’t take his eyes off you for more than a few seconds, though, constantly checking in with you. He raises his eyebrows, silently asking ‘you good?’, and you nod in response, still smiling, still crying.
Pride courses through your body, replacing the adrenaline that you felt throughout the game.
There will be time for a proper celebration, just the two of you, when you’re home and when he’s not aching with the heavy game he’s just played.
For now, you watch as he celebrates with his teammates and his family, safe in the knowledge that you’re the one going home with him when it’s all said and done.
Everything else?
That's just background noise.
AJ BARNER TAGLIST (message/ask to be added!): @cozygirljay @junovee @vroomvroombtch @mrs-delaney @snoopyhughes @coffeebunnibee
