Send in requests with anything you’d want to see out of this series. Thank you for the love!
~
“Luke move!”
“Bro what?”
“Get your nasty elbows outta here, it’s messing up my shot!”
You smile to yourself at the continuous noise from the basement as Jack and Luke play Fortnite after the long day.
You had spent the past two hours writing in your journal about the events of the day. You read back your notes at the top of the entry with a little fun fact section:
Alex goes by Turcs
Trevor is a little goofball, but sensitive deep down
Yorkie and Spencer have a goalie handshake
Danny Weight’s laugh makes everyone smile
Writing the entry had been easier than you thought it would be at the memory of the chaotic, yet perfect first day.
//
The boys had been adorably tired after their day of activities, but pushed through with excitement for their first official class with you.
You heard running and laughing approaching as you finished tying on your ballet slippers. Some of the boys came toppling in with a motive. You yelped as they sprinted towards you. You scrunched your eyes closed and shoulders up with the sudden rush to you. With a sudden tap on your shoulder, you opened your eyes to see Henry Thrun cheering with arms up in the air.
“I won! Ha!” He pointed to Marshall, Vlasic, McCarthy, and Owen Lindmark who were surrounding you.
“I should hide next time to make this bet harder for you.”
They dropped their jaws in disbelief at your tease.
“Noo, I have to beat Thrun and I can’t do that if I can’t find you,” Lindmark slightly whined.
You waved them off and instructed them to take their shoes off and stretch while the rest of the group straggled in.
“Man, I don’t know how you guys have the energy for that right now,” you heard Caufield mumble as he slid off his shoes and looked at the five boys jumping, clearly on a high.
“How was your lunch, guys?”
A few “good”s and “fine”s were handed out. A “fantastic” was thrown in there by Henry as he stuck his head out to his neighbor, Marshall. Thrun was an outlier of excitement.
“Wow. Loving the enthusiasm here.”
“Sorry, y/n. We’re just really tired,” Pat Moynihan responded for the group which earned heads to nod.
“We were so excited for this, but coach really went hard on us after a tough game two days ago. It was basically two hours of conditioning,” Matt Boldy added.
“Aw, I’m sorry, guys. Well, we’ll be doing a little less hands on today and a little more observing with our first lesson. Let’s move around a bit, and then I’ll let you lay down.”
Content flooded through the room at your offer.
They stood up dramatically slow, with inclusion of grandpa grunts and lots of “help me up”s.
“Let’s all spread out a little and take up the perimeter of the room.”
Each person was about four feet apart in a square shape. Most were leaning against the mirrors with their heads tilted back.
They looked wiped out.
You kept that in mind, and decided to do more speaking and demonstration than you had originally planned for the day.
“Any soccer players here? Former soccer players?” A few head nods. “How many of you have done grapevines before?” A few less head nods.
“Alright. I’d ask you to come help me with the demonstration, but the people have spoken, and y’all are tired. So, just watch and feel free to stop me with any questions.”
You showed them the footwork pattern and some started to do it out as you went. Once they seemed to have it down, you all did in the makeshift circle - more like square - very slowly. You had them face the mirrors, so they could see themselves and their moves.
“Ok. Now, that we have that down, someone give me a song.”
“Sweet Home Alabama!” Trevor yelled out. The guys laughed.
You told them to face out, so they weren’t looking directly at the mirror anymore. You knew this would be fun for them because they could watch each other. And by the participation earlier in the day, you knew they wouldn’t be embarrassed or shame each other if they messed up.
You headed over to your phone already connected to the speakers and started playing the song.
“Alright,” you yelled over the speakers. “We’re going to step on the beat. I’m going to count you in with 8 beats. After 8, you step to your right. Listen for me to call out left. When I do, we’ll switch directions and go left.”
You headed over to your spot. You choose a slower tempo that matched the rhythm of the song and counted, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 - go!” You cut yourself off halfway through 8 to ensure they’d start moving on beat 1.
Cackles and confusion filled the room. Johnny Beecher had started going to the left instead of right, crashing into a giggling Trevor. Ryan Siedem started on the wrong foot and tripped over himself. Matt Boldy was being sassy and and leaned into his hip with every step, which then caused Alex Vlasic to go into a fit of laughter.
It was chaos, but it was sweet chaos. They were good boys and they cared, even if they weren’t always the best at what they were doing.
They eventually got the hang of it. Once the bridge started, you called out, “left!” to the group that had forgotten they were going to switch directions.
The chaos that had calmed down, came raging back.
The first thing you noticed was Jack practically eating the mirror next to him as Dom Fensore ran into him and caused a one-footed, mid-step Jack to plunge into the mirror. You toppled over in laughter, but kept up with the beat.
As the song died down, the guys seemed to have their energy back, yelling over each other and pointing with one hand on their head at disbelief with what their fellow converser said.
You went over the shut off the music and told them they could sit down again.
The group took a minute to settle down as they were still laughing at what they had done and seen.
You didn’t mind. It was nice to see them so carefree and young in a sport that forced them to be tough.
“We’ll be doing more of that almost every day. We’ll speed it up and eventually add more tricks and coordination to it.”
“Does that mean we can do it to ‘It’s Everyday Bro’?” Danny Weight called out.
You nodded and laughed with the rest of them.
“Ok. I promised you could lay down after we moved around, but just bear with me for a minute, and then we’ll relax.”
“I wanted to talk about footwork.” You look to see all eyes on you, intently looking up at you like you’re Gary Bettman offering them a spot. You continue with a soft smile, “The exercise we just did is super important because it’s directly linked to footwork. Some of the most important exercises we’ll do in here relate back to footwork because the more grace on your feet, the better you’ll be against your opponent.”
“I’m going to play a video I threw together about the introduction of this program. You can lay down now and it’ll play on the ceiling.”
Some seemed confused, but awe took over their faces like children at the projections on the ceiling. The NTDP had added that feature because you’d realized there was no where to project anything with all the walls being mirrors and the other wall having a window and cubbies. It came in handy today with the worn out boys.
You watched them watch the video you had put together when you were jet lagged at the airport, on one of your trips back and forth to NYC and LA. You had gone back and forth 5 times in the span of 2 weeks then.
Clips from “The Game Plan” show with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson winning the Super Bowl due to his ballet technique. Your voice could be heard as you explain the importance of controlling your own body.
You take this opportunity while they were enamored with the presentation to slip out and grab a clipboard with paper, the roster, and a pen from your office. You take off your ballet slippers with the decision of skipping ballet today and focusing on logistics. You return to see the video almost ending and some of the guys resting their heads on another’s arm or chest for comfort. You slyly picked up your phone from your shelf and snapped a picture of the group casually cuddled together.
The video ended and claps echoed through the room from the center as they twisted their heads around to find you in admiration.
You smiled wide.
“I had planned to do more active work today, but I guess it works out that we chill a little more because we did have some technical things to get through.”
You continued.
“I have to get some information regarding sizing and what not, so I’ll ask you individually to meet in my office while you do a breathing exercise I made. It’ll help any time you’re sick, anxious, or just need to catch your breath. I find myself using this video before every audition and it helps a lot. If you enjoy it, maybe you could watch it before a game to get in the right mindset. Whether you use it or not, I think it’s important to give you the tools to take care of not only your physical health, but your mental and emotional health.”
Some eyes lit up at the mention of taking care of mental health. You knew you’d have a deeper conversation about that in the future when they became more comfortable.
You played the technique video you had made years ago. After researching the mind and the body at age 11, you decided to write research on your discoveries and create videos to aid your findings. The mind and body were connected in endless ways, so taking care of one takes care of the other.
Cam Rowe follows you as you call his name. You go in order of the roster.
He sits in one of the chairs across your desk and gets comfortable.
“Ok, Cam. How are you doing?” You make eye contact and smile to let him know you meant the question with sincerity.
“I’m okay. Pretty tired and I’ve been missing home a little bit lately, but the guys make it better.”
You give him a sympathetic look, “I know how you feel. I’m really proud of you for coming out here and making these sacrifices for your dream. Everyone back home and here is so proud of you. If you ever need anything or want to talk, I’m always here.”
His shoulders relaxed and a new person was in front of you, “Wow. Thank you so much. I-I didn’t realize how much I needed that. Thank you.”
More smiles were sent his way, “Of course.” You reached out to touch his hands on the table as a comforting gesture.
“So, we are going to be dancing, obviously, which means you’ll need the proper attire. Don’t worry, the program is taking care of all of it, I just need to know your sizes and shoe size.”
“Oh sick. Okay.” Rowe told you his sizes and left after you asking him to grab the next person on the roster, Cam York.
After about 45 minutes and plenty of genuine discussions, your roster ended with Cole. The two of you walked back in to the room to find the boys connected to the speakers and dancing with each having a partner and swinging each other around with linked arms. The video was only about 10 minutes long, so after the third person of Henry Thrun, you had him tell the guys they had this time to relax in whatever way they wanted - as long as they stayed in the studio and didn’t wander too much. Despite their low energy, they decided to spend that time goofing around. It made you happy to see them like this. You stopped at the observation window and took a quick video of them as Cole walked in and became a group of three with Jack and Spencer.
You walked in to quickly be pulled into that group. The four of your held hands and jumped around in a circle. The circle expanded to the whole group holding hands and jumping around the perimeter of the studio. Jack on your right and Cole on your left. The song ended and boyish cheers and giggles were highlighted with no more music to cover them.
You strode over to the phone connected and turned down the next song, so they could hear you.
“Well, I was going to end with an upbeat song to move around to, but I think that did it.” A few looked disappointed at the realization of the end of the class. “Thank you all so so much for making me feel so welcome and participating. I feel like I’ve known you for a month and it’s only been a day. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!”
They headed over to their shoes while a chorus of “thank you”s rung out. You thought you were going crazy when you heard a few “love you”s slip through the gratitude. You weren’t complaining - you haven’t known them for long, but you already love the guys.
“Please please please don’t hesitate to reach out for any reason at all! It doesn’t have to be class related, I’m here for you!”
More gratitude was sent your way and promises of taking you up on that offer were sent your way. You were slightly surprised at first when Trevor came up to hug you, but it felt natural the second he embraced you.
“Thank you so much, y/n. You really helped me today,” he whispered in your ear. You thought back to the conversation in your office about his anxiety coming to the program so far away from home and always having to be the ‘funny guy’.
“Of course, T. No matter where we are in life, never be a stranger. I’m always here.”
He smiled and squeezed your arm as he walked off with Jack.
Jack waited for Trevor as the latter put on his shoes.
“You good? I’ll meet you at home?”
“Yeah. I drove here, thank you.”
He nodded and smiled with a wave as they walked out.
You let out a sigh and a little giddy noise at the success of the day.
You quickly tidied up your office and got ready to leave. The job didn’t require you to stay outside of the boys’ hours and you got all the work you wanted to get ahead on done.
You locked up the office and studio. Bidding a good day to Martha at the front desk, you headed out into the sunlight. The clock read 4:08 when you got in your car.
//
You decided to lay down for a minute after watching Jack and Luke fight over their video games. Dinner would be ready in about 45 minutes and you wanted to be feel fresh to answer the questions you’re sure you would receive about the day. You placed your journal in the drawer of your bedside table and turned your body to the side to look out at the lights of the suburban Michigan night. You closed your eyes and tried not to think about your successful day because you weren’t able to rest with all the smiling it produced.
~
Bro. I’m a hoe for asks. Please. I’m so lonely.
I know it was shorter, but the last was unnecessarily long because there was a lot of intro info. This has more content of the guys.
danny answering those q&a questions and you’re like “bubby can we get ice cream” and he tells you if you stop interrupting and you pull off his hat and play with his hair and are like “but I want your attention” and he’d give you a few kisses before answering questions and then taking you to get ice cream and you give him a lil “thank you bubbyyyy” and he’d blush but love it
this was so soft i love it
“i’m gonna go find your brother,” you announce, pushing the covers off of you and slipping out of addie’s bed. you slip on your slippers and point an accusatory finger at the younger girl, “don’t watch anymore without me.”
“i won’t,” she huffs, exiting out of netflix before closing her laptop, “but we’re finishing it tonight.”
“duh!” you grin before grabbing your phone off of the nightstand and exiting her room. you make your way across the hall just to find danny’s room empty. you search the entire upstairs and after having no luck, you make your way downstairs. his mother is sitting on the couch and she looks up from her book when she hears you, “do you know where danny is?”
“he’s in the office,” she answers, “penticton wanted him to do a question and answer today.”
“okay, thank you,” you turn away and head towards the office. tentatively you knock and when you hear his voice ask who it was, you pushed open the door. you send him a soft smile as you close the door behind you, “hi bubby.”
“hey baby,” he sighs as he opens his arms for you. you slip into his lap and wrap your arms around his neck and he rests his hands on your hips, rubbing up and down softly, “what’s wrong? are you okay?”
“‘m okay. just missed you s’all,” you press a kiss to his cheek before he leans forward and presses his lips to yours. his arms tighten around your waist as you pull away and sink into his chest, “what are ya doin’?” you act like you didn’t already know.
“q&a for penticton,” he explains, “that i really need to get back to.”
“can i stay? i’ll be quiet i promise,” you give him your puppy eyes and hold up your pinky. he hums before wrapping his pinky around yours. you grin before leaning down to give him another kiss, which turned into two and then three before you actually pulled away. you take a seat in the chair directly across from danny, propping your feet up on the desk.
you watch as he grabs his phone and presses down a few times before he starts speaking, “that’s just out of pure laziness. i haven’t been able to get to the barber-”
“but i like your hair bubby,” you say, pulling on the sleeve of your long sleeve.
“thank you, baby,” he sighs, “but i need you to be quiet while i answer these, okay?”
“okay, sorry,” you pout, “love you.”
“i love you too,” he smiles before deleting the video and recording a new one. it was a minute or so later when he spoke up again, “favorite spot in penticton had got to be earl’s-”
“oh! is that the place you took me too?” you ask and danny sends you a sharp look. you pout, looking down at your legs, “bubby, can we go and get some ice cream?”
you hear him roll back in the chair and walk around the desk. he squats down and pushes your chin up softly so that you’re looking at him. “if you can’t stop interrupting i’m gonna have to kick you out.”
“but bubby,” you whine pathetically, “i just want your attention. i’ve barely seen you all day.”
“that’s because you’ve been upstairs with my sister,” he chuckles, resting his hand on the part of your thigh that your shorts didn’t cover. “i promise that if you’ll let me answer these questions, i’ll take you to get some ice cream. deal?”
you nod your head enthusiastically, puckering your lips. he shook his head at your antics before leaning forward and granting you a few kisses before he stood back up. instead of going back to his seat, he stood beside you and let you play with his fingers while he answered the questions.
“okay, c’mon,” he says as he shoves his phone in the pocket of his shorts. you grab onto his hand and he leads you down the hall. he walks into the kitchen with his keys in one hand and you gripping onto the other, “we’re gonna go and get some ice cream.”
“can you get me a chocolate chip cookie dough?” addison asks, looking up from her phone.
“do you have chocolate chip cookie dough money?” danny teases, raising an eyebrow. you giggle while addie glares at her brother, likely holding back a few choice words because her mother was just a few feet away.
“i’ll make him get it for you,” you promise the girl, tugging on danny’s hand and leading him out of the front door. you both get into his car and he pulls out of his driveway, heading towards the ice cream place which (conveniently does you) wasn’t very far.
he pulls into the line and slows to a stop. he keeps one hand on your leg as he grabs his phone with the other, “i really do need to get my hair cut though. it’s getting too long.”
“i really do like it long, d. it looks good,” you reach over and tug on a strand, “maybe before we go to boston though. i won’t let you look rough for your picture.”
“thank you y/n,” he chuckles, setting his phone in his lap as the car pulls forward and it was his turn to order. he rolls down his window and waits for the worker to speak, “yes hi. could i get two scoops of cotton candy in a waffle cone, two scoops of vanilla in a cup,” he pauses and you pinch his wrist, “ow! and two scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough in a cup please.”
the worker tells him the total and he pulls forward to wait again. you bring his hand up to your mouth and place a kiss on top of it, “thank you bubby.”
he flushes, “you’re too good at getting what you want. i need to get better at resisting your puppy eyes.”
