"Tell me again what is it that you want me to do?"
"I just want some moral support, okay Neeks? This would be the first time for me to meet the man that my mother is currently dating. I don't want to be alone there, sitting awkwardly in front of someone who has a possibility to be my step dad."
"Will. Do you really think I can make things less awkward?"
"Okay, maybe not. But I know for sure that you being there will make me feel better."
"Pffft…"
"Is that a yes?"
"Will…"
"Nico, please, darling."
"You know I hate it when you purposefully use that accent."
"I only use it because you love it."
"You only use it if you want something from me."
"Please?"
"You're lucky that you're my boyfriend."
"Ah, that is a yes, then."
-o0o-
Two days after that conversation, Will held Nico's hand, and let Nico lead him into the shadow. They walked out under the shadow of a tree in front of Will's house in Tennessee.
Naomi did not really understand the concept of shadow travel. But she was happy enough to know that it meant Will was home that Friday morning. She was even happier that Nico was tagging along with Will. Probably because Nico was good in cooking, and helped her a lot in the kitchen to prepare the dinner. And when this James guy finally came, Naomi proudly introduced Nico as Will's lovely boyfriend who was visiting for the weekend.
Will chuckled as Nico's face turning into scarlet. He quickly held Nico's wrist, squeezing it a little.
"Looks like I am the only one needing moral support here," Nico muttered as they followed Naomi and James to the dining room.
Will placed a quick kiss on Nico's temple. "It's not my fault that my mom loves you," he said. "You're just too adorable."
The dinner itself was nice. At least not as awkward as Will thought it would be. James was a nice person, friendly without being overly talkative. It's easy for Will to see why his mother was smitten with him. And from the way James was looking at Naomi so warmly, well…
Let's just say that Will was not against the idea that his mother was dating this middle-age man who worked as a system analyst. Especially since his mother looked happier than the last time Will saw her.
"So you're staying for the weekend?" James asked as he cut another piece from the remaining meat on his plate.
"Yeah," Will nodded. "We'll head back to the camp on Sunday, maybe late afternoon."
If James found it something unusual to go to a camp in the middle of a school year, he said nothing about it.
"Any plan for tomorrow?"
Will shrugged his shoulder. "Nothing in particular,"
"You know," James said, paused to take a sip of water. "I have two tickets for a football game tomorrow. It's a home game against Tulsa."
Will raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
James smiled. "Yeah. My son, Phil, he's in the team. I can't make it to his game tomorrow but as I said, I have two tickets."
James placed his silverware on the now-empty plate neatly. "So maybe you and your boyfriend want to go?"
"Oh, that sounds cool!" Will's eyes lit up. He turned his head to Nico. "What do you say, Nico?"
Nico was staring at James, with something that looked like a mild interest.
"Your son plays football?"
James nodded with a fond proud smile. "Yeah. He's actually a quarterback."
For a moment, Nico looked lost. "Quarterback?" he said, looking confused. But a second later, Nico's mouth rounded into an O.
"Oh," he said. "You mean… American football."
Will chuckled. He nudged Nico lightly as Nico looked back to his plate. "What do you think he was talking about?"
Nico flashed a glance at Will. "I thought James was talking about real football."
From the other side of the table, James laughed. "Ah, Yes. I forgot that you're Italian. You guys take football seriously, don't you?"
"Oh, you mean soccer?" Will looked from Nico, to James, and back to Nico again.
Nico made a small huffing sound. "Yeah. Soccer."
"I used to play soccer, you know, when I was much younger."
"Really?" Nico looked up again from his plate.
James nodded. "Yeah. I was a midfielder."
Will nudged Nico's shoulder again. "So, what do you say?"
Nico shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. Sure. Sounds fun."
Will grinned and looked at James. "Thank you, James. We'll take the tickets!"
-o0o-
It took an hour driving from Will's house for them to get to the stadium in Memphis. Once they arrived in the stadium, they joined other people who were walking into the stadium. Will was excited. He was not a fanatic fan of football, but it has been years since the last time Will watched a football game live. It was a warm sunny day, and the excitement from other people in the stadium was contagious. There was just something about the atmosphere of watching a game live in the stadium that was incomparable than watching it from TV.
"Is it your first time watching a football game?" Will asked as they were trying to find their seats.
"Uh huh," Nico hummed. "And since you were the one dragging me here, you have the responsibility to teach me about it."
Will laughed. They sat on the bench. The tickets that James gave to them were quite good. They got seats that gave them pretty good view of the field.
Will watched Nico who was gazing around the field and the stadium.
"Pretty impressive, huh?" Will asked.
Nico brushed away some hair from covering his eyes. "Are those the goal posts?" He asked, pointing at the yellow posts at the end of the field.
"Yeah, those are the goal posts."
Nico stared at Will, looking positively confused. "So…the goalkeeper would stand… there? Or what? Like… How would he even stop the ball?"
Will scratched the back of his ear. "Uh. I don't think there's a goalkeeper."
If it was even possible, Nico looked even more confused.
"So. No goalkeeper?"
"No," Will said, shaking his head. "No goalkeeper."
"So,…like… who would prevent the other team from scoring? You do have some defense right?"
"Yeah, we do have defense, Neeks. "
"Okay," Nico said, nodding but didn't look less confused than before. "And… strikers?"
Will laughed. "Defense, yes. But no, no strikers."
"Who would score then? Do the defense line also doing the attack? Or... like... you have attacking midfielders instead of a pure striker?"
"Well, usually the one who scores are quarterback."
Again, Nico had a totally blank clueless expression.
"Quarterback," he said, repeating Will's word, as if saying it by himself would help himself to understand the meaning of the word.
Will nodded. "Yeah, so in the game, there is a defensive unit, and then there is also the offensive unit."
"Okay, offensive unit. So they are the one doing the attack?"
Will hummed. "Correct. The offensive unit consists of quarterback, halfback, and fullback."
Nico's brows furrowed down. "If all of them are playing on the back, then why they are the attacking players?"
Will sighed and ran a hand over his head. "You know what, Neeks? Let's wait until the game starts. It will be easier to understand when you watch it."
-o0o-
Judging from Nico's questions during the game, no, it was not easier to understand.
-o0o-
"I don't get it."
"That's a foul? Why it's a foul?"
"I don't understand."
"OH! It's a foul! Is he going to get a yellow card for that?"
"What do you mean no cards?'
"It doesn't make sense."
"ANOTHER time-out?"
"Oh, now they can kick the ball?"
"Why it's just goal posts? Why no net?"
"Touch down? What's a touch down? They literally touching the ball all the time!"
"It doesn't make sense."
"So that… that guy over there just scored? Who gave him the assist?"
"20 seconds left and another time-out? Ridiculous."
"I. Just. Don't. Get it."
-o0o-
A few hours later, Nico and Will were cuddling on the couch together. Naomi had gone to bed half an hour ago, letting the two boys watching The Pirates of The Carribean on TV.
"So," Will said as he softly raked his fingers through Nico's hair whose head was resting comfortably against Will's chest. "How do you like it? The football game?"
"Well," Nico said, and paused. Will looked down at Nico. Nico had his eyes fixed on the TV, but he looked like he was contemplating answer. Nico sighed.
"It was... different," he finally answered, sounding a bit wary.
Will chuckled lightly, and leaned to kiss Nico's temple. "Different from what?" He asked teasingly.
Nico huffed and frowned a little, which only made Will laughed softly and kissed the tip of his nose.
"From the kind of football you usually watch?"
"Well, the kind of football I usually watch is the real kind of football," Nico said stubbornly.
Will laughed again, and buried his face on Nico's soft hair.
"Thanks for going with me, though."
Nico mumbled something that Will didn't really catch.
"Sorry that it wasn't that enjoyable for you," Will said.
"it's okay," Nico said. "I'm with you anyway. It makes everything much better."
It's been a year since they're dating and yet, that kind of thing that Nico just said never failed to make Will's heart do a little happy dance.
For a while, the only noises were the ones coming from the TV. Will kept on playing with Nico's hair.
"Hey, Nico?"
"Hm?"
"Since you went with me to watch my kind of football, why don't we watch your kind of football together?"
Nico didn't instantly say anything to that. But Will could feel his body got tense for a second. Then Nico flipped around so he was facing Will.
"You really want to?"
Will flicked the tip of Nico's nose as he grinned. "Yeah. I don't think there's any soccer game happening around here. But maybe we can find something on TV-"
"My team is playing tomorrow!" Nico said, cutting Will's sentence as he quickly sat up. "I think it will be on TV but if not, we can find a stream online. Chiara told me this site that we can use to search for some online stream."
Will stared at Nico, amused by how Nico's expression suddenly just lit up with excitement.
"Yeah, sure," Will said. "And by your team, you mean-"
"Milan!" Nico said. "They are playing against Roma tomorrow. I think it's at noon. Yeah, I am pretty sure it's at noon."
Will nodded. "Okay," he said, ruffling Nico's hair. "We'll watch it tomorrow, then."
Nico grinned and pressed a quick kiss on Will's cheek.
"Oh, I'm so excited," Nico said, and went back to his position, half-laying with his head resting on Will's chest.
"Yeah," Will said, and kissed the top of Nico's head. "Should be fun, right?"
-o0o-
There were still around 15 minutes before the game started, but Nico was already restless like he was bursting out with some energy from nervousness and excitement. Will watched in amusement as Nico shifted around on the couch where he was sitting.
"Nico, relax, they haven't even started yet," Will said.
"Shut up Will, I wanted to see the line-up," Nico said, and leaned forward, keeping his eyes at the TV screen. His mouth moved silently as he read the names showing up on the screen.
A few moments later, Nico let out a sigh as he leaned back against the couch. He rubbed his face with both hands.
"What is it?"
Nico shook his head. "It's a…decent line up. I am happy that Silva is starting but I really prefer having Cutrone instead of Calhanoglu alongside him. Well, at least Bonucci and Romagnoli are starting, which is good since they have Dzeko. And with Kolarov just joined Roma I have a feeling that Dzeko will become even more dangerous."
Despite the fact that he only understood about twenty percent from what Nico just said, Will nodded.
"Oookay?"
Nico didn't seem to hear him though, as he was now staring back at the TV, looking almost transfixed. Mimicking him, Will turned his head to the TV. The players were walking out now, each of them were walking with a kid next to them.
"Oh, is that their kids? They're so cute!" Will exclaimed.
"Huh? No, they're just the mascots but sometimes some players bring their own kid or niece or whatever," Nico said without taking his eyes off the screen.
"Which one is your team?"
"The one in red and black. Now shut up, Will, and let me watch the game."
Apparently, Will supposed to shut up, so Nico could shout out to the screen.
"Kessie, what do you think you're doing?" Nico shout out as he threw his hands in the air dramatically.
"Uhm… Nico?"
"What?" Nico snapped at Will. He shot a glare at Will before looking back at the TV.
"I don't think they can hear you?" Will said, trying not to laugh.
Nico glared at him again. "What's your point?"
Will raised his hands up and shook his head lightly. "Nothing. Just saying, you know."
Nico didn't seem to care, or even hear him, as he already shout out to the TV screen, and this time he even jumped off the couch to stand up.
"That is a clean tackle! It's not a foul!" He shouted, hands moving frantically in the air.
The game looked exciting. But Will found that watching Nico's reaction during the game was more entertaining.
"Quello NON È fall!"
"Oh gosh Borini can you just do your job?"
"Stupido arbitro."
"Oh gods no please no please no please- THANK YOU BONUCCI!"
"Quello era fuorigioco! It's an offside by a mile you stupid- Oh good you know your job."
"Come on Andre you can do it you can do it you-"
"ARGH. SO. DAMN. CLOSE!"
"Cartellino giallo? Come cartellino giallo?! Non l'ho neanche toccato!"
It was at the second half of the game, when someone finally scored. Someone with the white shirt kicked the ball right into the net. Considering the distance from the goal posts, Will assumed that it must have been a great goal.
A great goal or no, Nico's groan showed that he hated it.
"I knew it! I fucking knew it that it's going to be Dzeko!"
The camera was now shooting the players who just scored in a close up, who beamed a smile and wow, he was quite a good looking guy.
"Wow! He's ho-"
Will was cut mid-sentence when he saw another guy, arms full with tattoo just ran to the goal scorer, pulled him into his arm and kissed his cheek so passionately.
Will blinked.
"Did you see that?" Will turned his head to Nico and back to the TV again. But the screen already showing a replay of the goal.
"What? The goal? Yeah. A great goal. Hate it but I have to admit, that one was quite a goal," Nico said. The frown on his face clearly showed how he felt about the goal.
"No no no!" Will shook his head. "Did you just see that other player? The one with the tattoo? HE JUST WENT STRAIGHT KISSING THE GOAL SCORER."
Nico didn't even bother to look at Will. "Oh. Yeah. Kolarov."
"Is he the one who scored the goal?"
"Kolarov? No. He's the guy with tattoos. Dzeko is the one who scored."
"That goal scorer is hot."
This time, Nico slowly turned his head to Will and stared at him incredulously. "You do realize that he, just scored against my team, right?"
Will scratched the back of his ear, and grinned. "Uhm. Yeah?"
Nico still stared at him with that glare.
"But…but…he's hot!" Will said, trying not to laugh.
Nico sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Will. Just. Shut. Up."
-o0o-
Five minutes later, AC Milan conceded another goal.
Fifteen minutes later, Nico announced that he couldn't watch the game anymore.
He kept on watching anyway.
Thirty minutes later, the game ended.
Nico pressed the button to turn off the TV and threw the remote control to the couch. Sulking, he leaned back against the couch. He pulled his knees to his chest, and wrapped his arms around them.
"I hate football," he said.
Will laughed and pulled Nico closer to him. Nico was still pouting, but leaned against Will's side.
"Do you?" Will asked teasingly.
"I hate football. Football is cancelled," Nico said.
"What about your team? Do you also hate them?"
"My team? What team? I don't know any team," Nico said and huffed.
Will rubbed Nico's arm and kissed the top of his head.
"Oh, really?"
Nico didn't answer him.
"When will they play again?"
"Next week would be the International Break. You know, World Cup Qualification games. Some of the players will be called up for their National Team. But then the week after…" Nico paused.
He looked up at Will with a horrified expression. "Oh my God! I forgot that it would be Derby della Madonnina!"
Will raised his brows up in confusion. "Meaning?"
"It's the Derby di Milano! My team will be playing against that other team… Oh gosh!" Nico groaned again as he ran both hands over his face.
"Are you going to watch it?"
"Of course! Chiara and me plan to watch it together, even though Chiara has literally made the worst decision in her life by supporting that other team."
Will still had no idea who was that other team. But considering that Nico still looked upset, he decided that it would be a question for another time.
"I thought you said you hate football?" Will asked, a small grin played on his lips.
Nico groaned again as he buried his face against Will's chest. He shifted a little so the side of his head was leaning on Will's chest.
"You really have no idea about how hard it is to be a football fan, don't you?" Nico said, half-grumbling. "We hate our team but we just can't stop loving them."
Will laughed and wrapped his arms around Nico. He pressed a kiss on Nico's temple.
"Why do I feel like you were talking about what you feel about me?"
Nico made a small gruntling noise. "You know I can never hate you, Will."
"Even though I order those green salad for you in McDonalds?"
Nico hit Will's chest lightly but Will knew, he could feel that Nico had a small smile on his lips.
"Well," Nico said. He put a hand on Will's chest and looked up at Will. There was a faint blush of colors on his cheeks, but his dark eyes were smiling as they were staring at Will from beneath the thick eye-lashes. "But yeah, I don't think I can stop loving you."
"Good," Will said. He closed the small distance between their faces by pressing a soft kiss on Nico's lips. He pulled back a bit and pressed his forehead gently against Nico's. "Because I totally can't stop falling in love with you."
-o0o-
Notes:
1. Comments and feedback are always welcome :D. Tell me what you think about it here or meet me on Tumblr: thebluesideofmyworld.
2. Translations: "Quello NON È fall!" : That is NOT a foul! - "Stupido arbitro.": Stupid referee - "Quello era fuorigioco!" :That was offside! -"Cartellino giallo? Come cartellino giallo?! Non l'ho neanche toccato!": A yellow card? What do you mean a yellow card? He didn't even touch him!
3. The game of AS Roma vs AC Milan was indeed ended up with a 2-0. And yes, Edin Dzeko scored the first goal. It was a great goal, really. And yes, Edin is...pretty attractive. Seriously.