James was out doing some intense soccer practice.

Now he was on the team, he really had to get training. And he'd been junking like crazy lately, since he didn't know he'd make it. Ice cream, cookies, biscotti…

Oh, dear.

Now he was back on his diet, except he was reigning in a variety of protein and iron. It was FIFA. It was a big deal.

"Yo, James-ie!"

"What do you want?" James asked, not stopping on his push-ups.

"I got you your water bottle."

"Good. Go put it in my bag."

"Okay. How many push-ups ya doing?"

"I'm aiming for eighty. Now stop bothering me."

"Eighty?"

"Go away!"

He could hear Dandy's footsteps travel in the other direction, and he finished up his push-ups before going for the squats. Sweat was travelling down his face, but he didn't stop. After twenty minutes, his shirt was soaked and he walked over to his car, fingering his selection jersey.

He'd be getting a new one today.

He pulled off his soaked white shirt and tossed it to the side, and started to pick up his jersey when he heard a voice,

"James?"

He turned around, taken by surprise. It was early morning. Who would be out?

It was Lily. Her red hair was tied back in a side ponytail and she was wearing a light purple sweater.

"Hi," he greeted her, running a hand through his sweaty hair. "What's up?"

Her eyes were trained on his upper body, the shirtless portion of his body. "Um…"

He smirked and stretched a little bit. "My eyes are up here, darling," he said. Her breath seemed to catch for a split-second before she scowled and looked up at him. He must've imagined it.

"Can't you get a shirt on?"

"Why? Too distracted looking at my six-pack?"

"No!" she shrieked. "Not every girl is in love with you and will ogle at your body! Can't you just get a shirt on?"

"Whatever you wish," he replied, still smirking as he pulled on his selection jersey.

She rolled her eyes.

"So, why're you down here so early? Just wanted to get a nice look at my abs, or…"

"You're so annoying."

"You say that to me a lot," James replied, grinning. "I take it in my stride. But, seriously, why're you here?"

"Well, I was awake, and I saw you training…"

"Anything else you saw?" James suggested innocently.

"For the last time, no! I am not here because of your body! I couldn't sleep, and I saw you. And Marissa also had a message for you. And since you were here…"

"Ooh, Marissa has a message! Spicy. What is it?"

"She wanted to meet you. She asked me to ask you what time was good for her to meet you," she told him.

"How sweet."

She raised an eyebrow. "You'd better not start crushing on my best friend."

"Well, why not? She's quite pretty."

"She's engaged, you moron!"

"That sucks. Who is this man ruining our love story?" It was a joke, but something changed in Lily's expression. "Okay, okay, chill. I was just joking."

"I know," she replied, quieter and harder then before. "What time?"

"Um… I gotta go to soccer practice now, so… after that?"

"Uh-huh. Sure."

He smiled at her. "Okay, cool. See ya."

She waved at him as he got into the car. Dandy hopped in next to him. "Found another lady to flirt with, huh?"

"Shut up, Dandy. She's not my girlfriend."

"Now I know you like her."

He turned and raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything. "Care to share?"

"You didn't joke about it or be sarcastic! You denied it. That means you do like her."

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

"Yep. Denying, my old friend-"

"I am not old."

"Oops."

James rolled his eyes. "Play some music."

"Ookay! On it, boss! Can I play Hero? By CNCO? Have you heard it before?"

"Nope. Play it for me."

Dandy pressed play and the music started to play. It was pretty good.

"WOULD YOU DANCE IF I ASKED YOU TO DANCE?" sang Dandy. "WOULD YOU RUUUUN AND NEVER LOOK BAACK?"

His singing and lyrics were horribly off tune and offbeat, and James leaned his head against the window. Why was he stuck with such an immature manager?! All the other players probably had serious, neat ones.

How great.

After a couple more songs, they'd reached the field, and James hopped out for training.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours!" he yelled. "Around six!"

Dandy gave him a thumbs-up, and the driver sped off.

James joined his teammates on the training, going to stand on the far side next to Dex and Louis.

Then he realized something.

Reed wouldn't be here, which meant they would need a new captain.

So who-

"James Potter!" shouted a management official. "Come here for a sec!"

James frowned and jogged over to the official. "Yeah?"

"You're the captain."

He blinked, not sure if he'd heard right. "Me?"

"Yes, you. You are an amazing player, a good sportsman, and you work well in a team. We were actually considering this earlier, and we discussed it with Reed. He didn't seem to keen on the idea."

Then it all made sense.

Reed had started disliking James because they were going to give James the captaincy, and he was mad that he'd take his spot. Which was why the whole fight had happened.

Ohhh.

"Okay," James replied. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Here are the training lists, the papers, the requirements… We'll need you to stay back a few minutes to go over these. Until then, the team is yours."

He handed James a badge of captaincy, and his new jersey, which he yanked on and pinned his badge to.

It felt right. He felt honored. This was a big deal.

The badge was where it belonged.

James Potter was captain.

"Okay, everyone!" James cried, facing his team. "It's a new soccer season. A new world cup. A new team. New players. New captain. New set-up. New format. New relationships. New jerseys." He looked around. "Everything is new. And therefore, we'll have to be new too. The strategies that worked last world cup won't work this world cup. The amount of practice we did last world cup won't be enough for this world cup. Everything has to be new. We're going to have to adapt with the circumstances.

"I know that some of us dislike each other. I know some of us have fought with one another. I know some of us have disputes with each other, and that's okay. It makes us human. But under no circumstances should those relationships affect us on the field." He looked at each and every one of them, trying to convey his message. "Fight with someone off the field. On the field, we are one unit. All that matters is passing the ball, and scoring the ball. We are one person, with different bodies. No matter what, those fights should not crawl their way onto this field.

"Teamwork is important on the soccer field. And nobody's going to put anyone down. You'll pass to who's most available, pass to the person that will actually get the ball in the goal, 'cause at the end of the day? We want the most goals.

"That being said, we're bound to lose some matches. And that's okay. We'll learn from our mistakes and bounce back. But we're not playing the blame game. Nobody gets blamed. It's a team sport. One person makes a mistake, the team is at fault. Because we are one unit. It doesn't matter who fails, or fouls, or messes up. The team should work together and cover it.

"I'm your new captain this season. And soccer for me, isn't just a job. It's not a sport. It is my life. It is my passion. It is my calling. I'm going to work hard, and I'm going to work with each of you. We'll tackle your weaknesses, improve your strengths, and use every little thing to our advantage. We're going to make sure, together, that we win this world cup. WHO'S WITH ME?"

The rest of the team cheered and stacked their hands on top of one another.

"USA!" they shouted, all raising their hands.

James nodded, and they started practicing.

It was evening, and sweat was dripping down James's body as he got in the car and grabbed his water bottle, taking a fluent gulp from it before fastening the lid with a sigh.

"How'd practice go?" his driver asked him.

"Good," he replied, closing his eyes. "It was exhausting." He looked around. Dandy hadn't come, which made James relieved. Dandy couldn't come and drop him off and pick him up for every single practice. He enjoyed doing it, but James found it thoroughly annoying.

Once they reached the apartment building, James took his water bottle and emptied it over his head, drenching his body with water from head to toe. He needed it. He was exhausted as heck.

"Hi!"

James turned around, wringing his hair out. "Hi, Marissa. Hi, Lily."

The two women were standing in front of him. Lily's hair was in the same side ponytail from the morning, and she was wearing an icy blue jumper and black tights. Marissa was wearing a flowery white dress.

"Hey," greeted Lily.

"James, you look so hot!" squealed Marissa.

"Oh yeah?" James turned to Lily. "See, she says I look good."

"I'm not deaf."

Marissa blinked, looking back and forth between the two of them, before changing the topic. "You know, Lily, you're so lucky that you live near James."

"Nah. Honestly? I'm lucky to live near her," James told Marissa, who started to laugh. James looked at Lily and their eyes met for a moment. Her eyes were green and never-ending, alluring, beautiful, fascinating.

Then James broke the eye contact. "So, you girls wanna come over to my place?"

"Sure."

"OMG! I'm going to see James's house!"

James smirked. "Yes, you are. It's not much of a house… it's really just a suite apartment room."

The three of them took the elevator to his room, and they sat and chatted for a good thirty minutes about random things. It was always a teeny bit awkward chatting to a fangirl, but James tried to make the conversation flow. He'd met some really practical and fun fans, and he engaged with them sometimes during soccer matches. But enthusiastic, crazy, over-the-top fangirls could get really difficult to talk to.

Finally, Marissa stood up.

"I gotta go. Jake called me."

"See you," chorused Lily and James at the same time. James smirked.

"Bye!" enthused Marissa. "Awesome talking to you, James!" She ran off.

"So…" started James. "Looks like your friend is a crazy, super, mega-fan. Of me."

Lily rolled her eyes, stretching across his sofa face-up and staring at his ceiling. "Yeah, she is."

"Nothing wrong with that. A good healthy fan is what helps us win matches. They're encouraging. A good, strong family."

"Sometimes I doubt that Marissa is much of a soccer fan. I think she's just in it for the looks."

"So you admit they're there."

"Of course they are!"

He raised an eyebrow, thoroughly amused now.

"I mean… oh, for god's sake, James, you take everything so literally. I mean… like, sure, you look good, but you're just not… I dunno, I don't have to like you in that way just because you look good."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Ugh! You're impossible to talk to. I'm wasting my time here."

James smirked. "You've said. Many, many times."

"I hate you," she mumbled, throwing a pillow at him.

"Lie."

"Truth!"

"Lie."

"Truth!"

"Lie."

"Ergh!" She buried her head in his cushion.

He smirked, and plopped on the couch next to her, swinging her legs off the couch. They hit the ground instead. "You know I'm just joking. Don't take anything literally."

She snorted. "I'm not that stupid. You're just annoying."

"Sure, sure. Say what you want. I know you love me." He winked, and she rolled her eyes. For some reason, what Dandy had said earlier flashed into his mind.

You didn't joke about it or be sarcastic! You denied it. That means you do like her.

That was crazy.

Pfft.

He was a celebrity, a soccer player. He didn't go loving random people. He didn't even know her that well.

Lie, a voice in his head told him.

How was it a lie?

You know her very, very, very well.

"Shut up. That's creepy."

"I'm not even saying anything," replied Lily.

He blinked and turned to her quickly. "No, no, I wasn't talking to you."

"Since when do the cushions talk?"

"They don't. I… Forget it. What do you want to do now?"

She shrugged. "Have you had dinner yet?"

"Nope. Not yet. I should, though, I'm hungry."

"Cool. Then I'll leave."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because… you just said you hadn't eaten."

He raised an eyebrow. "Have you?"

She shook her head.

"Exactly! We can have dinner together."

She looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I don't have any plans, anyway."

"Cool." James pulled up his phone. "You wanna get something from UberEats?"

"Sure."

He opened his app and started scrolling through the cuisine options. "What cuisine? Italian? Mexican?"

"Mexican sounds good."

He gave her a thumbs-up and clicked on the Mexican option before clicking on a restaurant he liked. "Come here and tell me which ones you want," he told her. She leaned over his shoulder, her split-second of touch sending chills through him.

"Uh… I'll just take a burrito, I guess?"

"Awesome. I'll take a crunchwrap."

She nodded and leaned back against his couch. "Fine by me."

Just then, he realized that he had fifteen new messages from Dandy. What was so urgent?

Hangin out with your new gf, huh?

And u say u don't like her… HA!

I saw u go into ur room with her

AAAAAAND I saw the other 1 leave

Which means u all r alone in ur room!

How's it goinnnnnnn

Have u kissed yet

BRO!

Plz tell me you finally figured out you like her

Cuz ur a terrible liar when u say no

JAMES JAMES JAMES

Reply to me!

Ooh ur hangin out with ur gf

I'll stop botherin u

TELL ME HOW IT GOES BUDDY

James rolled his eyes and tilted his phone away from Lily, hoping she hadn't seen anything.

You idiot

She's NOT my gf and I DON'T like her in that sense!

A voice in the back of his head said, Are you sure about that?

James wanted to think yes, but for some reason he couldn't. If he didn't like Lily, how did he explain the fluttery feelings, the jitters, the chills? The way he smiled when he was with her, the way he loved the sound of her voice, the way he felt warm when she was around, the way…

The way he liked her so, so, so much?

How long could he evade the evitable truth?

"Uh, James?"

James blinked, staring at her.

Oh, shoot.

He liked her. He, James Potter, liked her.

And she most definitely did not reciprocate.

In fact, she'd probably think it was creepy. A famous celebrity, a professional soccer player, falling in love with her, would probably freak her out. She was most unlike any other person. She wasn't a fangirl.

And, for god's sake, she was going out with Charlie.

"James?"

He blinked again. He'd have to keep this newfound crush concealed, keep it under wraps. He didn't want to ruin the wonderful friendship the two of them had.

"James. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he replied quickly, blinking rapidly. Was that concern on her face? Was she concerned for him? Argh, how was she so… amazing?

"Who texted you?"

James looked down at his phone. "Oh, um, Dandy."

"Is everything all right?"

"Yep. Just, uh, some stuff with the soccer," he lied. "I'm the captain, after all."

Lily grinned. "Yeah, I heard. Congrats."

"Thanks," he replied, not knowing what else to say to keep the conversation going. "Uh, so, while we wait, you wanna watch something or…" Holy cow, why was she making him so nervous? He'd never been this nervous around girls before, and heck, he knew a lot of girls.

"Sure," she responded, shooting him the smile that made him go weak in his knees. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, connecting it to YouTube and browsing around to find a video. James couldn't help but watch her and smile. She was so perfect. Her wide smile, her genuine-ness, her straightforward personality, her organized mentality, and her compassion.

Gosh, James was falling hard.

A/N: soooo im back. it's been a year, but here i am again! i found all the old drafts and wanted to put them up here in case anyone wanted to read it. my writing style has totally changed (so ignore the cringe please 😭) but i still put it here to... finish the story ig.

anyway, the story is def gonna get a lot more exciting soon! theres gonna be one more conflict/angst thing, but then you'll finally get the couple-y fluff you all deserve. we need more jily anyway, not just angst and conflicts. (the ending is actually rly cute haha)

thanks for sticking around so long- to all of you guys still here, thank you, and i hope you enjoy the story! ❤️