Rewatching Ted Lasso part 30: Trent interrupting his date with a mustachioed man to come talk to Ted and opening with a line from Casablanca, a famously romantic movie… I see you Mr. Crimm
Ted replying with a cute little “Trent Crimm of the Independent” I see you too Mr. Lasso
Description: Wanting to help your friends, you bite off more than you can chew around AFC Richmond. But, what's life without a sleepless night? Or two?
Word Count: 3,451
Your feet dragged through the halls of Richmond, a to go tray of coffee cups balanced in one hand whilst you sip on a very large energy drink. You’ve lost count on how long you’ve been awake, your plate overflowing with work. Higgins son has had a cold for the last week, and you wanted to help out, take as much stress off of him as possible while he and his wife take care of him, so you’ve been handling all of the details for the upcoming away match. With that, you’ve been helping Keeley with scheduling interviews and branding deals for the team, staying up late into the night hunched over a spreadsheet, and formatting recruiting videos for the following season. All of this was topped by the work you have to do as the Coaches temporary assistant.
You came over with Ted and Beard when they were hired, having nothing left in the states to hold you back. You’ve worked alongside them for years as an assistant trainer, and when Ted got the phone call, he immediately asked you to come with him as their trainer. He talked to Rebecca as taking you on, but until a spot opens up, your sports medicine degree will continue to sit in your desk drawer. Not that you minded, you liked working with the coaches. With the additions of Nate and Roy, your workload increased, but you enjoyed the company of the two Brits, and even used your skills on the pitch when a player goes down during practice. Everyone was kind to you, and working as closely with the team as you do made it feel like you had a gaggle of little brothers. Over your time there, you grew fonder. Especially to one southern man.
Your feelings for Ted grew in your time in England. You never acted on them, obviously. He was married, you had only known him as the kind, married coach at the university. But then, he and Michelle split. You were there for the divorce, there for him in any way he needed. You weren’t going to overstep boundaries because you couldn’t get over a little crush. A little, multiple year crush. Totally normal.
You shake your head in attempt to clear the fog that’s grown over your mind, entering the locker room. You sip your drink, and the boys chorus hello’s to you. You swallow and smile at them, tossing the can toward the unlidded trash can. You miss by an alarming amount and sigh, shaking your head again in a futile attempt to waken yourself. Your foot drags as you go to grab your trash, but Sam stops you.
“I got it, Y/N, it’s no problem.” He smiles at you, slight concern in his eyes. You smile at him wearily, hoping the hasty concealer you put under your eyes this morning is doing its job. You sigh, moving toward the office where Ted, Beard, Nate and Roy are sat already.
They all greet you in their own ways; Ted with an energetic good morning, a nod from Beard, Nate saying your name with a smile and a singular grunt from Kent himself. You nod in response, sitting the tray on the desk. You point and call out each of the orders as you pull your own triple espresso caramel latte from its precarious position in the center of the four drinks.
You move to lean on your normal spot in the corner by Ted’s desk. Ted turned to you when you didn’t give your usual greeting, eyes mimicking Sam’s. You smiled softly at him and he smiled back before spinning in his chair. They launch into the plans for training today as you zoned out, staring at the empty coffee tray as their voices faded in your mind.
Ted glanced over at you to ask a question, but when he saw you he stopped. He looked at Beard, who shrugged and straightened up. He was just as concerned as Ted, he could tell. In all the time Ted had known you, you were always chipper, rivaling his own attitude sometimes. Always alert and quick on your feet, you assisted them in their time in Kansas. Right now, you were the complete antithesis to that. He could see the dark circles under your puffy eyes, the makeup failing you. You all but crawled in here, he was worried.
Though he tried to keep it under wraps, he cared for you, loved you. The Diamond Dogs knew, their meetings hushed and quick while you ran to collect papers from Rebecca or checked on Will the Kit Man’s progress on prepping for training. He didn’t know how you felt, just as oblivious as you were. Beard was just about at his breaking point, seeing the stolen glances and pining smiles for months. He could tell even before then that your feelings were there. But, it wasn’t his place. You both needed to get there on your own.
Your attention snapped back at the sound of Ted clearing his throat. When you came to, everyone was looking at you. You looked back, questioningly. “All good?” you asked.
“All good here, Y/N. How about you?” Ted leaned back, his kind eyes rising something in you.
“I’m hanging in there.” You shrugged with a nonchalant smile, sipping your coffee. “We ready to start practice?”
“Yeah, just uh,” Ted glanced at his watch. “Wanna go check on Will for me?”
“On it, Coach.” You two finger saluted the group as you left, sluggish movements worrying Ted even more. Once you were gone, Ted looked to the men left.
“Diamond Dogs Meeting.” Beard quickly closed the door, the only other noise being Roy’s groan and muttered ‘Oh for fucks sake’.
“Now Gentlemen,” Ted started. “I think there’s something wrong with Y/N. Beard, what do we know?”
“She took on some extra work for Higgins, with his boy being sick.” He leaned forward on his desk.
“She did? She offered to help me with the recruiting films.” Nate looked around.
“She’s… She’s also helpin’ Keeley with some PR work for the club, collectin’ info and doing spreadsheets.” Roy says gruffly. He wouldn’t show it, but he cares for Y/N just as much as everyone in this room.
“How does she have any time to sleep?” Nate jokes, letting out a breathy laugh. The room fell silent after that.
“Do we know if she even has?” Ted looked around at everyone. They all just shrugged, until Roy looked up.
“She’s been e-mailing Keeley updates on spreadsheets and brand options pretty late into the night, or early in the morning I guess.”
“She’s been stayin’ up late? How late?” Ted leans forward, rubbing at his forehead.
“Last couple nights, they’ve been coming in about 3, 3:30 in the morning.” Ted lets out a long sigh, as Beard whistles.
“So we can assume what? 36, 48 hours?” The answer is cut off by you opening the door, head peaking in.
“Pitch is set up, Coach. Want me to rally the guys?” Ted puts his brightest smile on and nods. You close the door again and your voice can be heard through the glass, and the questions of exhaustion are confirmed to the group. You do your best to hype them for training, as you’ve always done, but it’s off. Even the team can tell, jogging lightly out of the door, some even giving you a pat on the shoulder. You follow them out, and Ted turns back to his fellow coaches.
“We gotta figure this out.”
--
Training starts as normal, the team stretching and running warm ups as you stand there. The brisk air does little to help wake you up, so you clutch at the coffee cup, hoping with each sip that the caffeine will hit. It feels useless, but you have to get through the day. You have more work to do tonight, you couldn’t let them down. They had done so much for you, it was the least you could do to lighten their loads even in the slightest.
A whistle sounds beside you, snapping you out of what feels like your 10th zone out of the morning. You jump, not realizing that the coaches had lined up beside you, Ted and Beard on one side, Roy and Nate on the other. You looked frantically at them, and quickly looked at your watch. Ten minutes had passed since warm-ups started, but it felt like seconds. You shook your head again, and dug the heel of your palm into your eye. Ted yells out for the team to circle up and as they do, your stomach gurgles. Oh great, on top of being sleep deprived, you’re hungry too?
“Alright guys, I know there’s a lot of stress in the air,” Ted starts, Aviators perched on his nose. “But you need to take care of yourselves too, alright? We’re like machines, and the oil keepin’ you running? That’s getting rest, and taking care of yourselves. You hearin’ me?” The team yells back a confirmatory ‘Yes, Coach’ and Ted sends them on their ways to start training.
You stand on the pitch with them for the entirety of training, shivering as the cold air just seeps into your bones. You stare out to the field, going in and out of your foggy mind, thoughts drifting until one of the coaches snaps you back into it with their whistles, which always makes you jump. You can feel yourself slowing down, but you can’t allow yourself to. Finally, training finishes. With a whistle, Ted sends the boys on their way to the showers, giving slaps on the shoulder to everyone that passes him. Beard, Nate and Roy lead the group while you and Ted follow up behind. You’re slow moving, even slower than before, but Ted matches your strides.
“Everything alright, Y/N?” He looks to you, willing you to answer truthfully. His eyes hold such a worry that your stomach twists.
“Just… tired, Ted.” You admit. He goes to ask another question but you wave him off with a smile. “I’ll be okay, don’t worry. I’m gonna go check something, okay?” He nods, a frown set into his features as you turn away. You walk down a different hall, bumping into a trash can that. “Oops, when did that get there?” You ask, wobbling on your feet.
“It’s always been there,” He steps towards you as you sway on your feet.
“Huh.” You spin around to leave, but that’s immediately a bad idea. You lose your footing almost immediately, reaching out to balance yourself on the trash can beside you. Before your hand can touch the lid though, Ted is there. One arm under your free one, and hand grasping the one about to grab the can.
“Alrighty then, yep, you’re done for the day, Y/N.” He steadies you on your feet, and moves to help you lean against the wall.
“What? No I’m fine, Ted, really.” You go to move, but he stops you.
“Uh uh, no, you’re going home for the rest of the day. When was the last time you slept?”
You go to answer, but you genuinely don’t know. You have to glance at your watch to even know what day it is, but that’s answer enough for him. He leads you back to the office, sitting you in his chair while he pulls together your belongings. You close your eyes for a few moments, trying to stop the tremors in your hands.
Beard looks at Ted with a raised brow, and he shakes his head. That’s answer enough for the group, bidding you silent goodbyes as Ted helps you back up, carrying both of your bags with an arm wrapped tightly around your shoulders. You don’t really remember leaving the building, or much of the brief walk to your apartment. At one point, you leaned into Ted, glancing down at your watch and seeing the date. You muttered something incoherent to Ted.
“What’s that?” He looks down at you, and you look up, face smushed in by his AFC Richmond puffer jacket.
“It’s possible that it’s been 45 or so hours since I’ve last slept…” You look away, ashamed at this. Ted sucks in a breath, but doesn’t say anything. He just pulls you closer to him.
By the time you made it back to your apartment, your resolve has all but crumbled. You were tripping over your own two feet as you moved to unlock your door. Your hands were shaking with exhaustion, and he placed his hands over yours, gently prying the keys from your fingers. You looked up, and almost started crying. His eyes were so soft, brows quirked in concern with a soft, understanding smile. You let him take the keys from you, and slowly trudge in the door. Ted follows up behind you, careful to make sure you don’t trip on the stairs up to your apartment. You stop at the door, and Ted unlocks it as well. You mutter an apology for the mess, your kitchen table covered in paper work, sticky notes plastered at random points across the space, and to-do list smack in the middle. Your living room isn’t any better, take out boxes scattered across any available surface, desperately needing recycled, and clothes strewn around hap hazardously. You walk in and go to sit at the table, but you’re stopped.
“No no no, you’re going straight to bed.” Ted pushes you back up gently, muttering ‘I knows’ as you grumble at him.
You make your way into your bedroom, the cleanest room of the flat. Bed still made from days prior. You kick off your shoes as Ted pulls the covers back for you, and you slide in.
“You didn’t have to do this Ted.” You spoke softly, words slurring as you’re settling into the soft duvet.
“Now don’t say that, Y/N. Of course I did.”
“Why?” He pauses at this, and takes a deep breath.
“Because I care about you, darlin. More than you know” You look at him through your haze, and reach for his hand that lays on your shoulder. You grip him as tightly as your body allows, which isn’t much in your state.
“Stay a little longer?” your words are slurring even more now, head sinking impossibly further into your pillow. You pat at the empty side of the bed, and he lets out a breath. He quietly moves to the side, shoes off, followed by the puffer. As he sits on the bed, you reach for his hand again, clearly fighting the sleep that calls to you. You hold it for a second, bringing it to your lips, and they brush his fingers ever so softly. His breath hitches at this, not quite a kiss, but somehow more. You sigh, and bring his hand to lay on your head. Your fingers grasp at the bed before it rests on his sweater clad stomach. You scoot closer, and finally, sleep takes over.
Ted feels his heartbeat in his throat, you all but cuddled into his side, as he strokes your hair. He knows you’ll be out for a while, and thankfully they have a day off tomorrow at the club, allowing everyone a much needed rest day before they crack down in practice. He sits a while longer, hands running through your hair, hoping to soothe you even in sleep. He checks his watch, and silently scoots off of the bed, placing a light kiss on your hand before laying it down. He walks out of your room and gauges the mess. Well, he’s got time to kill.
--------
You wake hours later, the sun well gone, flickers of the London night life reflecting on your walls. You stand, uneasy on your feet. Rubbing at the sleep in your eyes. You glance at the clock on your bedside table, and it reads 12:05 A.M., the red blinking at you tauntingly. On the bed lies a set of pajamas, next to the rumpled proof of a well needed rest. Your eyes widen. Ted.
You change slowly, trying to decipher if you were remembering the day prior correctly. You groaned softly at this, it had happened. You let your sleep deprived-self cross the boundaries you had placed. He was just being nice and you KISS HIS HAND? You rub your hand across your face as you make your way to the bathroom, splashing water on your face as you exit it, and slowly trudging to the kitchen for a drink. You hear the TV playing as you exit the hall, and come face to face with Ted Lasso himself, sitting on your couch, watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. He looks up at the sound of your footfall, and smiles at you.
“Well hello there, Sleeping Beauty. How’re you feeling?”
“Better now, thanks to you.” You step into the living room and pause. It’s clean. Why is it clean? You look around, eyes wide as Ted goes on.
“Oh it was no prob, Billy Bob, honestly. I just wanted to make sure you were oka- what?”
“Did… Did you clean my apartment?”
“Uh… yeah, I just wanted to help out a bit, make sure you wouldn’t stress yourself out.” You walked to the kitchen and saw the neat stacks of papers, all filed correctly with sticky notes topping them.
“Did you-“
“Yeah, sorry, I just finished up the work you had left and you’re all set there,” He walks in with you, pointing at the piles and stating what they are.
“I color coded the one with-“
“Ted.”
“Uhm,” he coughs, “Ye-yes?” Unsure of your tone.
“Did you mean it?”
“Mean what? The cleaning? I think I did a pretty good job, a regular old Mary Poppins if I do say so myself.” He jokes, but he’s nervous. You’ve known him for too long for him to hide anything from you. You stepped toward him slowly.
“No, though I appreciate this and will never stop trying to repay you for this. I meant before. Before I fell asleep. You said you cared about me.”
“Well of course I care about you,” He tries diverting again, hoping you would forget everything entirely.
“More than I know?” Another step. You’re so close that if you were to reach out ever so slightly, you could touch him. He stops his rambling, and stares at you. He could never lie to you, no matter how much he wanted to. He sighs, and nods.
“I meant every word. But, I don’t want to put you in this position. I know you don’t feel the-“ You cut him off, placing one hand on his chest, and the other on his cheek. His eyes are wide at this, flicking between yours trying to read you.
“Don’t you say that. Don’t you dare say that I don’t feel the same.”
“But-“
You close the distance, opting to cut him off in a way better than words. His lips are soft, frozen for a minute. You go to pull away and apologize for your advance, but before you could fully separate, his hands are on you. Cupping your cheek and waist, he pulls you in. It’s not rushed, or an insane burst of fiery lust, it’s deep, conveying years of unsaid love. Your hand travels to the back of his neck and you grip lightly on his hair. You couldn’t believe it.
You both finally pull away, breathing deep, as if you had run a marathon. You lean forward and place your forehead on his, finally letting out a breathy laugh. He follows suit, and you look at him. That smile, you caused that smile. You let out one last breath before speaking.
“I love you, Ted. I have for a while now.” You close your eyes waiting for the response. Despite the make out session that just happened against your kitchen counter, you still feared the response. He laughs again.
“Well that’s a relief, darlin. Because I’m undone by you too. I love you, Y/N.” You smile again, a laugh puffing out of your swollen lips. It sounded like heaven to him. You stood there together, swaying slightly in your place as you heard your wall clock chime. 1:00 AM. Ted pulls back with a smile.
“Let’s get some sleep, yeah? I’m sure you need a tad more.” You nod at this, and grab his hand to lead him back to your room.
Quickly, you settle under the covers, Ted beside you. He pulls you impossibly close, and together you sleep, heartbeats in time like a perfect metronome. Much needed rest for both of you. There will be all the time in the world tomorrow.
