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He didn’t care. He wasn’t invested. If you paid him a thousand pounds, he’d never admit to giving a shit about any of it. But, as fucking annoying as it was, Roy Kent noticed…everything.
Except when he didn’t.
Hence the ‘Roy’s-sorry-for-not-understanding-Keeley’ playlist.
But that’s not the same thing, is it?
On the pitch, he could see every manouver, every gaffe, every time Colin’s left fucking foot tripped over his right, causing him to fumble and fall directly on the ball, winding himself. It made him a fucking good player and debatably, an even better Coach.
And don’t even get him started on the fucking Diamond Dogs.
He’d make a brilliant one, no doubt about it. But he will not fucking participate and he will not wear the stupid metaphorical jacket and he will not do the stupid fucking howling. His ears do prick up through the wall, though, when he hears Rebecca’s name, all of the two times she’s been mentioned. Higgins, notably absent both times.
But no, he doesn’t care. Fuck it.
That’s only the first time that Rebecca comes into his head in any kind of context that wasn’t - Ms Welton, Club Owner or Rebecca, Keeley’s very tall, super hot friend with the really big wine cellar, with the good stuff right at the back; chillin with the spiders and the dust.
He had two Rebecca’s now, where before there was barely even half of one. And that was really fucking weird.
There was the Rebecca at work, Ms Welton, who felt ten-feet tall and untouchable. Incredibly professional and efficient. Knew what she was doing, regardless of how hard Rupert the ex-fucker had tried to say she didn’t.
Then there was Rebecca, never Bex. Never ever, Bex or Becca or any deviation there-of. Who was friendly and self-conscious and a bit weird about really simple, regular human stuff.
Roy would almost say awkward as fuck, but never out loud or to her face.
More often than not, the two Rebecca’s crossed over but there were clear rules for both, regardless.
She had them over for movie nights and he’d sit on the other end of her really plush sofa, massaging Keeley’s feet while the two women snuggled together, hugging a bowl of caramel popcorn as they cried through a romantic comedy he refused to admit he was watching over the top of his book.
Never in his life had he thought he’d spend so much of his free time with Rebecca Welton, of all people. They’d even had lunch just the two of them when Keeley wasn’t able to get away from a meeting she’d double-booked.
And it wasn’t fucking awful.
He actually found, months ago, that he liked her. Fuck.
“Roy, can you grab the crisps, they’re on the counter.” Rebecca called from the living room and he groaned but did as he was bid, rueing the fact he’d been too slow and was now the one that would be sent back several times to pick up everything they’d forgotten when they headed from the dining table to the living room.
“And I could use a top up!” Keeley called out after her.
“Ooh, me too!” Rebecca added and he groaned even louder, deciding to grab the open crisps, the open bottle and stuck his head in the fridge real quick to grab a bar of chocolate, just to save himself another trip.
Sometimes he wondered how the two of them weren’t as big as houses, with the shit they could pack away.
“So, what are we watching?” He asked, his voice a deep grumble as Rebecca reached excitedly for the crisp packet, her fingers wiggling as he handed it over. “Please tell me it doesn’t have Patrick Swayze in it?”
Keeley smirked and Rebecca giggled - an honest to god giggle. Roy just stared at her for a second, mid handing the rosé bottle over to Keeley.
“It does, doesn’t it? It’s that fucking Dirty Dancing again, isn’t it?”
“No.” Keeley answered, her chin tipped down. Rebecca snorted. Okay, he was two for two on her being just a bit fucking weird this evening. He never counted how many glasses they downed, because it was none of his fucking business, but for a second there he was curious how much she’d had. And they were lying through their half-way tipsy teeth.
“No!” He blurted. “I’m not watching that shit again, pick another one.”
“But Roy!” and “Babe!”
They whined at the same time.
“No! I’m going to the loo and when I get back, you better have picked out something else.” He dumped the chocolate on the coffee table, rolling his eyes as he stomped out of the room in his socks, listening to their excited ‘ooh, top deck!’ as he went.
***
He could hear them giggling as he ascended the stairs, never really able to bring himself to be genuinely mad at either of them, especially Keeley. She had a radiance that counter-balanced his irascible nature and it hadn’t taken him long to realise she made him better for it.
He’d seen her bring about a similar change in Rebecca as well; and she deserved a lot of credit for it. Keeley used to describe their friend as a bit prickly, but while she still could be - more like Roy than either of them were entirely honest about - she was also incredibly soft when she felt safe enough - small moments, most often with Keeley just on her own, or occasionally with the both of them (but only when in her own home), and sometimes (but very rarely that he’d seen) with Ted; which was a concept that definitely required no over-thinking on his part.
He stopped for a moment, at the top of the stairs, about to round the corner to the bathroom when he noticed something small and green, perched on the windowsill that overlooked her front garden. He moved towards it, pulling the sheer curtain aside just enough to make out the tiny, little, plastic soldier-man pointing a rifle out towards the world.
Huh.
***
“He’s a bit grumpy this evening.” Rebecca commented absently around a square of chocolate.
“As opposed to when?” Keeley smirked, popping her own chocolate square in her mouth as she snuggled down further into the sofa and Rebecca’s side.
“True.” Rebecca sank down a little further into the cushions as well, however her long legs remained extended out and crossed at the ankles on the broad, plush ottoman. She flicked to the Netflix menu and started scrolling absently. “So what do we want to watch?”
“Something with Patrick Swayze please. Ever since you introduced me to 1990’s Swayze, I've been hooked. He was so hot as Bodhi in Point Break.” Keeley gave a little shiver in her spot and Rebecca laughed.
“I suppose that explains Roy’s distaste.” Keeley giggled into Rebecca’s shoulder. “How about 1980’s Bowie?”
“Oh, something Roy might actually enjoy?”
“Labyrinth.” They both said at the same time, as Rebecca clicked on the film and set it to start.
“He’ll fight it at first, but he’ll love it.”
“Definitely.”
There was a loud THUD and they both jumped. Rebecca’s hand went to her chest in fright and the thud was followed by an even louder ‘FUCK!’ then silence and some shuffling. Both women stared at the door, sitting ajar, waiting for Roy to burst through and when he did, they couldn’t help the snickering at the rage on his face. “Who the Fuck leave’s their shoes at the bottom of the fucking stairs?!”
Rebecca’s cheeks pinked and she pressed her lips together tightly, trying hard not to laugh as he grumpily dropped down on the sofa, pulled Keeley’s feet into his lap and, on autopilot, started to rub them. They both watched him intently for a few moments, waiting for him to calm down and register what they’d chosen to watch.
“Fuck no!”
“Babe, it’s already started.” Keeley argued and he groaned.
“That’s true.” Rebecca agreed and he rolled his eyes before grabbing his book off the side table and dumping it on top of her feet, opening up to the last page he’d left off.
Both women smirked into their wine glasses as they turned their attention back to the movie.
***
Over time, it became a semi-regular thing. They didn’t talk about it, really - it wasn’t anyone’s fucking business. Rebecca was Keeley’s best friend, he was Keeley’s boyfriend, it actually made perfect sense that they’d all spend a Friday or Saturday night having dinner in her massive house - some amazing three course thing pre-prepared by a hired chef, before they curled up on the sofa and fought over what they were going to watch.
He wouldn’t admit that he liked it, that wasn’t in his nature - but like his yoga mums, he appreciated the anonymity of it, he appreciated the entire lack of expectation to it - it certainly wasn’t going to be anyone’s first guess as to what he did with his weekend.
Rebecca wasn’t looking to date anyone; not since she’d made some royal dating fuck-ups of late - Keeley’s words, not her’s - and Keeley was incredibly busy day to day, so none of them really felt the need or desire to head out into the chilly night of a weekend, dressed to the nines, hunting for Rebecca’s forever guy.
He was pretty sure the few times they had attempted it, Rebecca had come back from the experience just a little bit lesbian - which, in hindsight, he wondered if that hadn’t been Keeley’s goal. Plus he’d spent more time trying not to break jaws every time either Keeley or Rebecca had their ass groped by a forty-something divorcee who looked at Rebecca and saw pound signs, so he much preferred their quiet movie nights.
They were much gentler on his nerves.
Instead, they were this comfortable little unit working their way through the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, before they moved on to the Marvel franchise - though he wasn’t entirely convinced he wasn’t looking down the barrel of a ‘lets watch Johnny Depp’s entire filmography’ segue once those movies were over. And if he sometimes copped Rebecca’s foot to his chest when he tried to reach into her packet of crisps, he could concede that he earned it.
“Will you top us up, please, Roy?” He wasn’t sure when he’d become just as soft for her asking as when Keeley did, but he was already halfway to standing up from the sofa before he realised he’d been manipulated and rolled his eyes with a groan. It wasn’t worth the battle.
“Fine, you want red or white?” He asked as he took her glass from her, rolling his eyes at her triumphant grin. He knew they’d just finished a bottle, so her answer could go either way.
“Hmm, what are you having, love?” Rebecca questioned the pile of tousled, honey-blonde hair in her lap as she ran her fingers through it.
Keeley tilted her head up to look at Roy. “Ooh, I think we can move on to the red, yeah, that bottle we brought, Roy.”
“You don’t have to.” Rebecca argued, god knew she had an endless wine cellar they had barely made a dent in, but Keeley had insisted because Rebecca was always the one providing.
“Don’t argue, blondie, she’ll hold out longer.” He quipped, taking Keeley’s glass from the coffee table and making his way into the kitchen.
Oddly enough they didn’t spend much time in her kitchen - he’d been in there many times before of course - it wasn’t off limits - sometimes when movie-nights ran a bit late, he and Keeley would take the guest room on the first floor and wake to the smell of waffles and brewing coffee - startled, only the first two or three times, to walk into the kitchen and see a guy in a crisp white jacket tossing a fruit salad with a grin and an unexpected but enthusiastic Bonjour!.
He stopped trying to force conversation with him after the second time, when he realised Rebecca conversed with the man entirely in french. But Francios’ egg-white omelette was so amazing, he’d actually put the effort into learning how to say Merci correctly and mean it.
He’d deny it if questioned.
This particular Saturday, the girls were on a Tim Burton kick, so they were quite happily nibbling their snacks to the bleakness of Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow as he tried to get through a few chapters of Angels & Demons and instead of a pre-prepared feast, Rebecca had ordered takeaway from a restaurant he was fairly sure only did takeaway if you could afford over a certain amount and the chef knew you by name - but it had meant eating on the sofa, a double feature - they were going to watch Sweeney Todd next - and he hadn’t actually set foot in the kitchen.
Which is why he was surprised when he rounded the counter, reached his arm out to open her wine-fridge and stopped dead in his tracks.
What the fuck?
He dropped his hand from the handle of the and took a couple steps back, stopping by the kettle, mesmerised by what he’d just noticed.
He didn’t even know she ate peanut butter - certainly not the fuckin surgary kind you’d pick up from the international foods aisle at Tesco. He couldn’t even imagine her going into a Tesco. He wasn’t even certain she’d know what to do if she were in a Tesco.
They’d stopped in at Waitrose once on the way from work to her place, just to grab some snacks and she’d actually, honest to fucking god, stood in front of the self-checkout and asked Keeley what the fuck to do.
“What the fuck is this, now?” He questioned, standing in the doorway to the living room, pulling back on a smile at seeing how Keeley had curled herself into Rebecca’s side while he was gone; the both of them half-hugging the same cushion.
“Huh?” Rebecca blinked up at him and he saw on her face, the moment it dawned on her, her eyes shifting from the open jar of peanut butter in his hand, to his eyes, as they widened. “Fuck.”
“Fuck indeed.” He nodded. “You wanna fucking clarify why this is out on your fucking counter, open?” He looked down into the jar. “Looks like it’s been got at with a finger, too.”
She tucked her chin into her chest as Keeley sat up, looking between them. “What is the problem, Roy?” His girlfriend questioned and Roy just pointed at Rebecca with the open jar.
“I think Rebecca can tell you, hey Rebecca?”
She shook her head, her lips pressed together tightly.
“It’s just a jar of peanut butter, babe.”
Roy stepped into the living room. “It isn’t though, is it, Rebecca?” He waved it about a bit, a touch amused, a touch offended she’d been keeping what could potentially be a fairly huge revelation from them. “It’s the cheap shit, innit?” He glanced at the back of the jar, scanning his eyes over the ingredients with a screwed up nose. “Fuck me, that’s feral.” He met her eye again. “I know for a fact, you wouldn’t touch this shit with a ten-foot pole.”
“It’s not that bad on celery,” She tried to argue but he tilted his head with a don’t even fucking try look on his face. “Fine!” She huffed, pausing the movie - the sound of which was just getting in the way now - and sat forward on the sofa. “What do you want me to say?”
Roy scoffed. “I dunno, maybe explain this, and while you’re at it, that little soldier guy that’s perched on the windowsill upstairs.” Rebecca blanched and Roy leapt forward a little, a triumphant smile on his face. “Ha! So it does mean something!”
“Ted gave her that soldier, Roy.” Keeley shrugged. “So?”
“Oh he did, did he?” Roy’s question was directed at Rebecca, who’s cheeks were just getting redder and redder. “Is that so?” He knew full-well. Ted had been handing those little fuckers out with meaning for nearly two years.
He had one in his bathroom.
Rebecca cleared her throat and answered quietly. “Yes.”
“And this?” He waved the peanut butter at her again.
“It’s peanut butter.” She answered and Roy rolled his eyes.
“You fucking know, that I fucking know, that it’s peanut butter.”
“Roy,” Keeley frowned. “You’re acting really weird. So what if Rebecca has peanut butter? Most people do.”
“Babe, it’s not just the peanut butter.” He met Rebecca’s eye and he knew it was out of character for him, he knew he was probably pushing a little too hard - she was starting to look a touch flushed - but it was news and it was unexpected and for some inexplicable reason, he wanted to fucking know. “It’s peanut butter that was sitting on the kitchen counter, open, just sitting there waiting for someone to walk past and stick their finger in it.”
Keeley scrunched up her nose in disgust. “You did not shove your finger in Rebecca’s peanut butter, Roy, that’s gross. What the fuck?” Keeley exclaimed.
“What the fuck, no, not me!”
Keeley opened her mouth to protest, but Rebecca’s voice stopped her - quiet and soft and tentative, with a little nervous wobble. “It’s Ted’s.” Both Keeley and Roy barely heard her, but Keeley being closer, turned her head quickly with a questioning look in her eye.
“What do you mean, babe?”
Rebecca took a deep breath, looking up at Roy momentarily before looking back to Keeley. “The peanut butter, it’s Ted’s.”
Keeley studied her. “I don’t get it.”
Rebecca shrugged, looking to Roy for help but when he offered none, she had to meet Keeley’s confused eye again. “Ted likes to keep the peanut butter open on the counter, so he can have some whenever he wants.”
“Both gross and genius, to be fair.” Roy chimed in and Rebecca frowned at him.
“And you have it on your counter because…” Keeley trailed off, watching Rebecca’s face as her chin dipped down, her eyes focussing on her smaller, younger friend as a realisation started to creep over her pretty features. “Oh my god.”
Rebecca dropped her eyes to her lap as Keeley hopped up on the sofa, pointing at her, gasping in shock. “Oh my fucking god!” She hopped up, dancing across the room towards Roy before hopping back in front of Rebecca, pure delight in her eyes as she exclaimed. “You’re shagging Ted!”
“Keeley,” Rebecca admonished, her nose a little scrunched up as she twisted her fingers in the cushion on her lap. “It’s not,”
“Fuckin hell, it’s not just shaggin is it.”
Rebecca’s head shot up, her eyes locked on Roy as she swallowed, slowly shaking her head. “No.”
Keeley completely deflated, dropping back on to the sofa beside her, reaching for Rebecca’s hand. “Oh, wow, babe.” She took a deep breath, curling their fingers together as Rebecca looked at her. “This is huge.”
Rebecca let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah.”
“So why the fuck isn’t he here?”
Rebecca looked up at her friend, a little surprise and a bit of shock in her eyes. “I didn’t know, if,” She hesitated. “We weren’t really,”
Keeley cut her off, grabbing her phone off the coffee table and shoving it into her hands. “Go on, ring him. We’ll get another bowl,” Keeley waved her arm over her head. “Roy, pop open that bottle, yeah and grab Ted a glass.”
“I don’t know, Keeley,” Rebecca started, but Keeley cut her off, waving her hands.
“No, you gotta ring him, come on. I’m sure he’d come over in a heartbeat.”
“Keeley,”
Keeley shoved at the phone. “Come on.”
Rebecca took a deep breath, meeting Roy’s eye for a moment before she looked down, unlocked her phone and quickly searched for Ted’s contact. “Oh my fucking god,” Keeley gripped her wrist before she could press the call button, yanking her arm up as if to show Roy. “Look Roy, he’s in her phone as emojis!”
Rebecca snatched her arm back, hugging her phone to her chest. “Do you want me to call him or not?”
“Yeah, babe, let her at least dial.” Roy backed her up and Keeley grinned.
“Go on, go on, call.” Keeley was practically bouncing on the sofa cushion beside her as Rebecca raised the phone to her ear.
“Hi love,” The endearment had Keeley slapping at Rebecca’s leg silently, Rebecca shoving at her hands to shush her. “Yeah, I’m okay,” She listened for a beat, gripping Keeley’s flapping hands to stop her. “No, no, they’re here. Actually, we were wondering if you wanted to come over, we’re about to watch Sweeney Todd.”
She met Keeley’s eye, then Roy’s as a smile spread across her lips, her voice coming out soft in response to whatever he’d said. “Yeah, we.”
“Okay, see you in a minute.” She smiled to herself. “No, just use your key, it’s okay.”
“He has a fucking key!” Keeley practically squealed the second Rebecca hung up the call, tossing her phone onto the lounge chair to her right. “Holy fucking shit!”
“Keeley, it’s not,”
“Oh yes it fucking is, and I’m going to interrogate the fuck out of him when he gets here.”
“Oh fuck, please don’t.”
“It’s happening.” Keeley dropped back against the sofa cushions, grinning.
“Are you fucking happy?” Rebecca questioned Roy, who was still standing across the room with the open jar of peanut butter in his hand.
“Yeah, actually.” He smirked, spinning on his heel and heading back into the kitchen.
“Fucking asshole.” Rebecca muttered, crossing her arms over her chest as she dropped back on the sofa as well.
“Oh this is so exciting!” Keeley was practically vibrating out of her skin in excitement and Rebecca just looked at her out of the corner of her eye.
“Fucking hell.”
***
Their comfortable night on the sofa took a nosedive into awkward territory as they waited on Ted to arrive, the Netflix menu sitting ready on Sweeney Todd as she and Keeley quietly took sips from their wine or a little handful of popcorn every now and then.
Rebecca could feel Keeley’s eyes on the side of her face and the silence between them was thick with Keeley’s nervous excitement practically radiating off her, ready to burst.
“Hey y’all it’s me!” Ted’s voice rang through the hall as they heard his key turn in the lock, and before Rebecca had a chance to respond, Keeley was excitedly slapping at her knee, bouncing up on the sofa with an exuberant “Oh my god, oh my god! It’s him! It’s him!”
“Who the fuck else was it gonna be?” Roy questioned as he sipped at his beer, casually, rolling his head toward the door, pulling his eyebrows together in a scowl as Ted tentatively poked his head through.
“Well, howdy.” He stepped all the way into the room, meeting the eyes of each of them in turn. “Well this looks fun.”
“Oh my god you shit!” Keeley exclaimed, jumping up from the sofa, practically leaping across the room to wrap her arms around him. “How long have you two been shagging?”
Rebecca winced as she met his eye over Keeley’s head, offering a silently mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ to which he just shrugged and smiled, hugging Keeley back.
“I need to know everything. Is Rebecca as amazing a shag as she looks?” She stepped back and winked at him.
“Keeley!” Rebecca shrieked and the younger woman just chuckled, waving her hand back to shush her friend.
“Oh, well now, see I learned that little britishism early on, and I’m not really one to kiss and tell, Keels.”
“Oh fuck you.” She slapped his chest without any malice, spinning back to take her seat next to Rebecca on the sofa again. “Rebecca won’t tell me either,” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Well, ain’t it enough just knowin that,”
Rebecca cleared her throat and Ted stopped speaking abruptly, his cheeks flushing crimson as he brushed his hand against the back of his neck.
“Well, sure boss, you know that’s fair enough.” He gestured to each of them - Roy in a soft pair of dark grey joggers and a black t-shirt, Rebecca and Keeley in comfortable leggings and oversized sweaters. “No it looks here like there’s a bit of a dress code, I might just,” He threw his thumb over his shoulder, meeting Rebecca’s eye before he stumbled out of the room, almost walking straight into the door.
Rebecca jumped up after him, following him out into the hall, gripping the back of his shirt to pull him back toward her.
“I’m sorry, Ted.” She whispered, smiling when his hands immediately found her hips and he tugged her towards him at the bottom of the stairs, a touch more comfortable knowing Keeley and Roy were in the other room.
“Hey, no, it’s alright,” He pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose and smiled. “They were bound to find out sooner or later.”
“It was the peanut butter.” She declared, frowning, with a touch of amusement at the corners of her eyes - fiddling with his jumper between them, against his stomach.
Ted chuckled. “Oh really?”
She nodded, smirking.
“Gosh, I’ll have to be a bit more careful about leaving my stuff around, hey.”
“Bit late for that, hm?”
“Oh my fucking god, you’re living here, aren’t you?” Keeley’s booming voice made them both flinch, Rebecca dropping her forehead to Ted’s chest as his arms came around her. “This is too much, I need a fucking drink.” She wandered past them, heading into the kitchen, throwing her head back dramatically as Rebecca started shaking in Ted’s arms.
“You okay?” He questioned softly, running his hand up and down her back as she continued to shake, laughing against his chest.
“I’m fine,” She tipped her head up, smiling at him. “She’s really taking the news well.”
“I’m assuming she hasn’t seen the bedroom then?”
Rebecca swatted at his chest. “Do you think I’d have been able to keep it under wraps until now if she had.”
Ted shrugged. “I dunno, maybe you could have convinced her you’ve taken up an interest in Nikes and Khakis.”
Rebecca just glared at him, playfully. “Shut up.” She spun him around by the shoulders, giving him a shove towards the stairs. “Now go change and get back down here.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Please, Rebecca, give me something.” Ted heard Keeley plead as he wandered up the stairs, glancing down to see Rebecca had disappeared into the kitchen. “Anything, you’ve been keeping this from me for weeks, haven’t you?”
Rebecca was silent for a while, long enough that Ted stopped at the top of the stairs, gripping the railing, listening for her answer.
“It’s more like months, actually.”
“What the fuck, Rebecca!”