Chapter Text
Hot water was beating down on Jesse's head and he let out a long sigh. Finally! He felt his joints relax for the first time in 24 hours and all the tension that he had built up during the hours before the game was leaving him and it felt damn good. He sighed again before he grabbed the shower gel and started to lather his body.
A few moments later, he heard the buzz of a key card and the hotel room door opened. It closed just as quickly and he heard Marcus’ steps coming closer, his shoes falling down with a clunk right outside the bathroom door. Damn Marcus and his habit to throw his shoes right in the way so that Jesse would surely stumble over them later.
He was back earlier than Jesse had expected. It had been barely fifteen minutes since Jesse had begged off staying in the common room to go and take a much-needed shower. Marcus had wanted to come with him right away, which had caused some of his teammates to laugh at them, as they were apparently “just as bad as a couple in their honeymoon-phase. Would an hour without the other really kill you?!”
So Marcus had stayed and had started to talk to Eric, but not without throwing Jesse one last look. Maybe he needed a shower now too. Surely, that was the reason and not some kind of co-dependency that some of the guys were going on about. They were best friends and best friends liked to hang out and do stuff together, right?
The bathroom door opened and Marcus entered the room, only clad in tight briefs. He didn’t look up, instead kept on scrolling through a list on his phone furiously. Only when he found what he had looked for did he focus his eyes on Jesse - or the parts Marcus could see through the steamed-up shower door.
“Well, well, well. Look who came back earlier. Missed me too much?” Jesse quipped from inside the shower. “Oh shu’ up” Marcus laughed just as Drake’s ‘Dreams Money can buy’ started to fill the room.
“I just couldn’t leave you alone. Who’s going to be your personal DJ then?” Marcus added. “You know me so well, buddy” Jesse answered and continued to condition his hair.
He was nearly finished now but the music made him want to stay for at least another hour. “If you use up all the hot water I’m gonna strangle you!” Marcus said over the music.
“Wanna see you try… 99 physicality boi, surely you remember that.” He made sure to shout the ‘99’. Marcus rewarded him with a tired sigh that was loud enough to be heard over the pounding water.
Jesse took pity at that and turned off the shower a few moments later. He got out and quickly grabbed one of the towels Marcus – bless that boy - had laid out on a stool. Marcus and him changed places and if Jesse risked a small sideway glance at Marcus’ naked form well then that was his secret to keep.
They sang and laughed together and with every joke Jesse told that made Marcus laugh, he felt more and more calm and settled.
“Some of the boys are gonna play ‘True or False’ in Ruben’s and Trent’s room in a few minutes. Should we join?” Marcus asked as they were lying on their bed in their training shorts, both freshly showered and relaxed.
“Who’s playing?” Jesse mumbled, still engrossed in a stupid game he was playing on his phone. “Well, Ruben and Trent are gonna host it and I think a few of the guys from Tottenham wanted to come and Raheem, Kyle and Stones were also pretty hooked earlier.”
Jesse turned onto his side so he was facing Marcus. “Sounds cool. Tell them that we’ll come and stay for a while and then we turn in because I’m knackered.” “Yeah me too.” Marcus answered while digging through his pile of shirts in their wardrobe – which was actually Marcus' bed.
Jesse did the same thing on the other side of the bed and settled on a white Givenchy shirt. When he turned around to look at Marcus, his best friend was wearing the same shirt in black.
“You literally can’t be serious right now! You're jokin' me.” he said disbelievingly. Marcus only laughed and shrugged his shoulders. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to change, so Jesse said “Fuck it” and also kept the shirt on.
The boys already knew that Marcus was the biggest copycat to ever copycat and this would only be another piece of evidence in a never-ending list.
He ignored the warm feeling in his chest that he got whenever he saw Marcus in matching clothes. It was nothing.
They knocked on Ruben and Trent’s door a few minutes later and were let in by Kieran. “Look who turned up! Attached at the hip – as always.” he called out to the guys in the room. “You’re just jealous” Jesse shot back as he entered the room, Marcus right behind him.
“Well, who isn’t?” Eric winked from where he was sitting against the bed, Dele literally sitting on his lap with a smirk on his face. Fuckers! The rest of the boys howled with laughter and even Marcus had a small, somewhat fond smile on his face.
They sat down next to Ashley whose greeting consisted of looking at their matching shirts with a knowing smile. Jesse could only flip him off.
Kieran came back into the small circle they had formed in the front of the room. They were twelve people and Jesse knew right away that this group would be funny as fuck. He was glad that they started with the ‘True or False’ questions right away and didn’t talk about the match against Tunisia and their last minute win. He needed distraction if he wanted to sleep more than two hours tonight.
They began with some stupid questions (“You got nutmegged four times during training yesterday” “You pissed in the shower tonight” “You snuck a pack of haribo into your room”) that made everyone laugh, except for the person who had to answer them. Their first reaction was mostly to curse (in embarrassment).
Jesse always laughed with everyone, but he was much more preoccupied with the way in which Marcus’ thigh was touching his and the way in which Marcus’ fingers were drawing random shapes on his bare calf. It appeared as if Marcus didn’t even realize what he was doing until he felt goose-pimples under his fingertips.
“Oh sorry!” Marcus said absently and stopped. His hand stayed on Jesse's calf though.
Just as Jesse was about to ask Marcus if they could go up to their room now, Dele adressed him with a teasing smile: “Marcus and you make the sweetest couple. True or false? You better get this one right.” The room fell silent and all eyes were suddenly on him (and Marcus), trying to gauge their reaction.
For the first time in a long time, he felt like he couldn't talk. There was no quick and witty remark on his mind, it was just blankness. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Eric punching Dele's arm softly, a disapproving look on his face. Dele merely shrugged and focused his stare back at Jesse.
“What and why?” Jesse got out after a few more moments of collective silence. It wasn't the most thought-out thing he'd ever said but right now these words were they only ones he could muster up.
Marcus still hadn't shown any reaction at all, but that was Marcus sometimes; kind of closed off, pensive and watchful. He liked to analyse a situation before he reacted or showed any emotion. Jesse was much more impulsive in that regard.
Kyle was the first to speak up: “So should we tell you why you're 'hashtag relationship goals'?” “Enlighten them, Ky” John encouraged.
“Okay, number one-” he held up his left index finger for emphasis “I'm pretty sure that you share clothes all the time. Look at the two of you right now! You're wearing the same fucking shirt. That's hella corny. And even when you don't wear the exact same thing you match all the time. And you document it on snapchat or instagram for everyone to see.”
Jesse snorted at that and Marcus pinched him. “I just wanna say that I bought this shirt first” Marcus said. “Yeah but who saw it first huh beans? I was telling you how cool it looked and suddenly you snatched it from my hands and just bought it!” he argued back. He was definitely no copycat.
“Nuh-uh you liar. I saw it on insta before and then you were just faster in finding it there.” Marcus stuck out his tongue at him. “I'm not having that at all-” Jesse was just about to go on about how Marcus had the audacity to lie to everyone in the room when Kyle, who was repeatedly clearing his throat, pulled them out of their little bubble.
“I wanna go on, lovebirds” he said, sounding like Jesse’s teacher in fourth grade after he had caught them talking in class. “Anyway! Number two: In the group chat we have almost as many pics of you dozing or sleeping on each other as we got of Dele and Eric doing the same thing. That’s pretty suspicious!”
Dele was fast to pipe up: “But we’re still the number one couple here! Got that?” “Of course we are, Delboy-” Eric reassured him with a sweet smile. “Kyle called us relationship goals first, you remember?” he went on.
“Damn Dele, stop making everything about you!” John snickered. “This is about me and my relationship being the best” Dele shot back with a smirk. Nearly all the boys burst into laughter at that, except for Eric who rolled his eyes but tightened his hold on Dele.
Jesse looked at them until the laughter was dying down slowly. Not for the first time, he felt longing when he observed their behaviour towards each other. They still bantered most of the time, but then a flip switched and suddenly one of them kissed the other to shut them up or a tickling session ended in them kissing and cuddling on the floor or the sofa.
Jesse badly wanted a relationship like that; full of laughter and fun but also with a lot of tenderness and caresses.
He looked at Marcus with a shy smile. His best friend seemed to watch Dele and Eric too. What was he thinking about them? Did he also envy them for the relationship they had?
“A penny for your thoughts?” Marcus whispered to him. The other boys had forgotten about them temporarily in favour of a small wrestling match between Ruben und Trent. They were fighting over who would get to sleep in the bed by the window.
“Oh…-“ Jesse answered with a small delay. “ ‘Just thinkin’ bout how you always sleep on me because you have a neck that won’t stay upright” He laughed. “You’re such a liar today! I’m pretty sure that the last few times you fell asleep on my because, and I quote: ‘I’m not tired beans! Just watch this funny video with me and I’ll leave you alone’. And then you fell asleep in the middle of it.” Marcus grinned triumphantly.
“Yeah… maybe. But before that it was always you!” Jesse wasn’t going to lose this argument either. “That was because your music was lame and I got bored”
Jesse jumped back as if he had just been burned, which he had been, just not literally. “Ouch! How dare you disrespect my superb taste in music like this? I’m wounded” he huffed out.
“N’awww” Marcus answered, no remorse in his voice whatsoever. Well, then Jesse would make him feel the remorse himself. He got closer to Marcus again and before Marcus could react, Jesse went for his waist.
Marcus’ waist was sensitive and it took Jesse only one well-placed pinch to make him scream. “No no no please no no!” Marcus was wheezing between his laughter, which in turn made Jesse laugh.
Marcus was desperately trying to push Jesse away and he was strong. Jesse knew that Marcus only needed one or two pushes to throw him off balance, so Jesse did the only logical thing to save himself: He sat down on top of Marcus’ abdomen, which left his best friend so surprised that he didn't put up a fight for the first few moments.
He was just lying there motionless, looking up at Jesse with wide eyes. Jesse heard and felt Marcus' every heartbeat and every breath that he took. It was hypnotizing.
He felt like time was standing still around the two of them and it was getting harder and harder to resist the urge to just lean down and kiss Marcus on the lips
Jesse thought back to Dele and Eric in the exact same position just yesterday after indoor training. Dele had pinned Eric down to the floor, both of them giggling breathlessly. Suddenly – without any warning – Dele had lowered his head to fit his lips against Eric's. Eric hadn't even hesitated before kissing back and putting his left hand on the back of Dele's head. Apparently, that had been an invitation for Dele, as he had gotten impossibly closer to his boyfriend. Jesse had averted his eyes after that. He really didn't need to see Dele and Eric snogging on the floor as if their life depended on it. No thanks!
He thought about Marcus' plush lips that looked so soft and outright kissable. Right now, they were slightly parted and Jesse watched with rapt interest as Marcus wetted them with the tip of his tongue, while maintaining eye contact. Life was truly unfair and Marcus was a fucking tease.
Jesse was about to lean down and just do it – teammates be damned – as he felt Marcus’ fingertips digging into his side. For the first time, he was actually glad that Marcus bit his fingernails!
“Jess, you okay?” Marcus asked in a concerned tone of voice. Jesse wanted to scream ‘NO! Your lips are way too soft and you’re looking at me with your dumb and beautiful brown eyes with these unfairly long eyelashes. And I just want to kiss your huge cute nose and your cheeks and your lips! God these lips drive me crazy’
Instead of embarrassing himself even further in front of his best friend and about ten close teammates, he held back his thoughts and went with “A bit dizzy I think”.
Marcus seemed to be satisfied with that and answered: “Up you get old man! No more tickling fights for you today.” “Shut up!” Jesse giggled, but got up quickly. He pulled Marcus up by his hand and together, they settled back onto the floor.
“This is so going into various group chats!” Raheem cried out as the two of them finally looked up. All eyes and at least five phones were directed at them and their little ‘incident’. Oh, so now everyone was interested again. All right!
“This intervention is gonna take centuries with your constant squabbling. We’re gonna be quick now and I don’t want to be interrupted by anyone! That also applies to you Dele!” Kyle said in a serious tone while simultaneously winking at Dele. Dele flipped him off.
“Back to business” John scolded. “Aye, aye Captain Pencil” Eric threw in. Kyle rolled his eyes and continued where he had left off a few moments ago.
“Number three: I’m pretty sure that some higher being tied you two together with some kind of invisible cord. You’re always together and close and when you’re not then you-“ he pointed at Jesse “cry and pout about it in your snap or insta-story and a few minutes later Marcus is back at your side.”
Marcus and him couldn’t even say anything in their defence, so they stayed quiet.
“They even arrive at training together more often than not” Ashley piped up. Jesse tried to give him a death glare, which only made the traitor laugh.
“I got one more piece of inside gossip, lads” Ashley added proudly. Every single one of Jesse’s (now ex-) friends straightened up. He would’ve laughed at that if he didn’t want to strangle Ashley right this second.
“Okay so, one time I overheard them arguing about whose turn at doing laundry it is” he said slowly. The meltdown that – predictably – followed consisted of cries like: “OH. MY. GOD.” “What? When?” and “Tell us more, Ash! Don’t leave us hangin’ like this!”. However, Ashley just sat back in satisfaction so that Jesse and Marcus had to pick up the pieces of his doing.
Jesse had just decided to ignore the whole thing by telling a lame excuse followed by a quick exit out of this hellhole when Marcus spoke up: “Okay no, I gotta set this right.” “You really don’t have to do this, Beans.” Jesse tried in vain to stop him.
“Okay, so sometimes after training-“ Ashley loudly coughed words that sounded suspiciously like ‘Twice a week’ “I spontaneously sleep over at Jesse’s and I don’t have anything comfy with me because it’s spontaneous.” Marcus threw him a dirty look.
“And that’s why I go to Jesse’s wardrobe and get some sweatpants and a shirt or something. The next morning, I put them into the laundry basket and then Jesse complains that he has to wash my clothes too, but they’re actually his.”
The other guys had been quiet until now, intently listening to Marcus’ side of the story, but now more and more of them started to giggle quietly. For example Dele, who was stifling his noises into the fabric of Eric’s sweater.
“Okay, but why do you wear clothes only once before putting them into the laundry basket?” Kieran asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jesse felt like they were in the middle of some weird interrogation.
“Well, I used to put them back into his wardrobe, but then Jesse complained that they stank. So, I put them into the laundry basket but that’s wrong too. You can’t do anything right for him!” Marcus went on.
“Jesse what do you have to say to that accusation?” John asked him. “No comment” he answered in a serious voice.
No one had to know that he used to pick out the shirts Marcus had worn and had put them on to lounge on his couch the following day. They had just always put him at ease after a long day. Moreover, they’d been extra comfy somehow. But it wasn’t exactly best friends behaviour to put on your buddies used shirts.
Still, sometimes Jesse just couldn’t help himself and fished a t-shirt out of the basket while Marcus was already waiting in the car.
Marcus pulled him out of his thoughts by giving him a small nudge. “Are you spaced out again?” he asked softly. “I’m still dizzy and I’m tired” Jesse answered in a low voice. He was just so done with this day and the only thing he wanted was sleep.
Around him, his teammates were engrossed in other conversations again, only Marcus was watching him with a concerned look on his face.
Strangely enough, Eric was also looking at them from across the circle and as Jesse raised an eyebrow at him, he answered with a thumb-up and a shooing motion. Eric then started to attack Dele with kisses and a few seconds later, everyone was hooting and telling them to get a room.
Jesse immediately knew that this was their chance to leave the room discreetly. He took Marcus by the hand and they made their way out of the room quickly.
On the way to their bedroom, both of them were quiet. Certainly, Marcus was thinking about this weird interrogation slash intervention too. Jesse would definitely be thinking about it for a while.
They got ready for bed in a rush and Marcus seemed to notice that Jesse just wanted to lie down and sleep. When they had finally settled in their bed, it was Marcus (usually it was Jesse who started to talk in bed) who spoke up: “You’re the best best friend, you know Jess? I like us just how we are, I like what we do together and I like that we’re always having fun doing whatever we do. And I wouldn’t want to change the way we are together, you know?”
Jesse could only muster up a small smile. Yeah, they worked together just fine and had been doing so for nearly three years and he loved that Marcus was his best friend.
However, Jesse felt a bit queasy, when he thought about the last part of Marcus’ little ‘speech’. Because it showed that Marcus wanted to be best friends, nothing more, nothing less. And that hurt Jesse more than it should.
“Well yeah, of course we’re the best!” he answered belatedly and extended his hand to squeeze Marcus upper arm. Jesse was not going to make him feel shitty for only wanting to be best friends.
Marcus laughed in that cute way which always caused Jesse’s knees to go weak. Now it only made him feel warm. And damn, he really was in too deep.
They exchanged Good nights and Marcus’ breath evened out quickly. Jesse laid awake for the next hour, but instead of thinking about the weird evening and the sting that Marcus last sentence had caused, he thought about his friendship with Marcus; how much Jesse enjoyed his company and his calm nature. There were only a few people, who could get him to relax completely and Marcus was one of them.
He didn’t want to think about how the other four people were his mom, his brother Louie and his childhood friends. Marcus just fit perfectly, didn’t he?