Title: All I ever wanted was to dream another sunset with you
There's something about watching Josie play football that makes you think of warm air perfect for a nap, of a million stars glowing in the dead of night, of the smell of spring in the breeze. She's so unbelievably competitive and serious about it that your heart hurts because you're so in love with every part of her.
You remember the entire summer you spent watching her play scrimmage games against the other kids left behind at Salvatore, eye black smeared across sharp cheekbones, and you still don't know how to breath around her. You want to drag her to your room and do unspeakable things to her. You want this to last forever.
It doesn't matter then that Lizzie calls the plays all the time because whenever Josie scores a touchdown, she looks for you sitting on the sidelines and all you can do is give her the proudest grin. Her returning smile is always brighter than the sun shining; it makes you want to write poetry. This is the one-time Lizzie Saltzman doesn't factor in your relationship. You'd give everything in you to keep this version of Josie.
After the games, the group of you pile into a booth at the Mystic Grill, slurping milkshakes and licking lines of ice cream off your fingers. You're pressed so close to Josie the only thing you smell is her shampoo as you watch Kaleb, Jed, and even Lizzie laughing at a joke MG said. You think you never want summer to end. You turn to Josie and press a sticky kiss against her cheek which makes her turn to you with questioning eyes. You shrug and smile in a way that says you did it just because you can and your chest feels so warm when she smiles back just for you.
In the evenings, all of you take over the common room, binging on Harry Potter because while their magic wasn't accurate, it was still a generational classic. You recite along with the actors on screen and laugh when Josie tickles you to get you to shut up. You turn your face to her, smiling conspiratorially as you subtly reach for a handful of popcorn from the bowl sitting on the table. She gives you the softest smile that almost makes you stop. Almost.
You pretend to lean in for a kiss and she closes her eyes in anticipation before you dump the handful of popcorn in her shirt. She squeals and leaps up while everyone roars in laughter as she starts shaking the popcorn out. You can't catch your breath from laughing so hard and Josie stands there red-faced waiting for you to finish before she whacks you hard in the arm. All you do is pout and rub at it dramatically until she rolls her eyes and kisses the pout off your face.
"I can't believe you just wasted perfectly good popcorn like that!" Despite the admonishment, Lizzie's eyes sparkle with amusement, and when your eyes meet, you think maybe you could be friends. You secretly cling to these moments. You know Josie definitely does.
Josie talks you into joining their football game once when they had uneven numbers. You saunter onto the field smirking.
"I'll play but I'm not going to be holding back."
You throw her a wink that makes a blush rise to her cheeks right before you hike the ball backward. It gets thrown into the hands of Lizzie who backs up quickly to make a clear throw while you and Josie sprint down the line. The moment Lizzie tries to throw the ball though, the illusion disappears and the ball emerges in your hands just before you cross the touchdown line. You smirk as you toss the ball behind you and stroll back toward the centre of the field. The boys just groan and complain about you cheating while Lizzie storms up to you and starts yelling at you for ignoring the play she called.
"Hey, you needed me to play for even numbers and I scored, didn't I?" You raise an eyebrow and she huffs before stalking off for another tantrum.
You turn to Josie with a triumphant grin on your face and you expect her to congratulate you on a spectacular play. Except all she does is give you a pointed look before running after Lizzie and you can only sigh as you pick up the forgotten football. The boys quietly follow in your footsteps when you head back into the school and away from Lizzie's imminent outburst.
That night, Josie whispers apologies into your skin and you know you've already forgiven her.
"I just wish you would stop taunting Lizzie like that."
You only sigh, "I'm doing nothing. She only sees what she wants to, and it's that I'm just not good enough."
"Yes, you are. You didn't have to pull that trick to prove that you're good at magic." She whispers into your shoulder.
"I didn't do it to prove anything. I just like to win."
Josie just sighs and presses a kiss to your cheek before turning over to go to sleep. Sleep doesn't come easily to you that night. You still wake up with your arm slung around Josie's waist though, so you tell yourself that's enough to let it go.
You don't get Josie's happy grin when she scores anymore, and something inside you breaks every time she doesn't look your way.
You don't have to worry about Josie scoring anything in this miserable November game. Quite honestly you think it's pathetic how Salvatore is forced to lose every year. There was no way anyone would've thought this school had powers if you just threw in some losses among your victories and Dr Saltzman was an idiot. You've never said this to Josie though, you knew what fights to pick and you had quite enough of them.
You decide to throw in your two cents worth by convincing the team to win for once in their life because you were sick of seeing everyone act pathetic, even if Josie glared daggers at you the entire time.
"Score a touchdown for me, MG. Well, I guess for Lizzie too." You say as you pass a bottle of water to him.
He somehow manages to do it and you raise an eyebrow as you spot Dana trying to flirt with him afterward. Well, that was unexpected. Your eyes drift toward Lizzie and you can practically see the smoke coming out of her ears as she yells at MG to focus. He tries to stutter apologies that have you rolling your eyes again because god, that boy was a fool sometimes. Lizzie just huffs and calls the play as the game continues.
It's halftime and Josie well past pissed at you and the vindictive side of you is thrilled. Salvatore has made a big comeback and you might actually win for once. Except of course, good ol' Josie has to throw a wrench in your plans by pleading to everyone's guilty "I have to make Dr Saltzman proud conscience" and you're so sick of pandering to the Saltzmans. You throw the next best idea out there; door number three: win the normal way without any powers. Really, you had to pat yourself on the back for that one because you know from experience the team does have surprisingly good fundamentals when they forget about supernatural shit.
You decide to drop the bomb and walk away for dramatic effect because, well, what's the point of doing anything otherwise? You watch as the team manages to continue making progress on the field and you can't help but actually feel proud of your school for once.
Until Josie makes Kaleb fumble the ball on purpose. All you can do is pinch the bridge of your nose with a sigh. Still daddy's perfect daughter. You don't even stay long enough for the teams to shake hands.
You do plan an ambush on MG and slap your hand on his chest as he leaves the boys showers, making him jump a foot in the air. You roll your eyes because for a vampire, he really didn't pay attention to his surroundings very well.
"Right, strategy sesh."
"Oh, nuh uh, I ain't letting you drag me into more shit. All I got was the wrong girl looking."
You huff and roll your eyes again, "You think this shit is gonna happen overnight after it hasn't for the last three years? You gotta play the long con. Dana looking at you forces Lizzie to actually see you proper. Just trust me, yeah?"
MG is quiet for a moment as he takes in what you said. When he finally looks back at you, he's still got questions and you're starting to get tired.
"What's in it for you?"
You smirk, leaning in close to his ear, "Some people just want to watch the world burn." You decide you've had enough of the conversation and push yourself off the wall. God, you could really use a drink right now.
You head to the roof, rolling a cigarette when you've leaned back against sun warmed tiles and stare across the school grounds. It's a filthy habit you picked up from your ex and you just can't seem to shake it. You'd almost managed to quit when you were with Josie but now that you weren't… there just didn't seem to be any point. You pull the smoke easily into your lungs and let the quiet sink in to join the heaviness in your chest.
It's not quiet for long because the door of the roof is thrown open and your first instinct is to throw the cigarette behind you and put it out. Your heart stops racing when you see that it's just Josie fuming in the doorway and you sigh as you pick up your smoke to light it again.
"I thought you quit?" Her eyebrow is furrowed, and the edges of her lips are dipped into a frown.
"Yeah, well, shit happens," you shrug and take another drag, looking away before guilt eats away at your bones.
"Right. Well I didn't come here for that. What the hell do you think you were doing at the game?"
"What did it look like, sweetheart? I was trying to get us to win for once." Your voice sings bitter in the air.
"Didn't you hear Dad when he said we had to lose so they wouldn't think anything was different here?"
"Hm, I guess I've got some vague recollection about that... Look Josie, what's it matter if we won for once? It's not like we were going to wipe the floor with them. No one's going to look to hard at an occasional win."
You make the mistake of looking at her and your heart feels like a brick is dragging it to the bottom of your body. The setting sun paints her in a glowing orange that still makes your breath catch in your chest. She is so heartbreakingly beautiful and right now you really wish you'd never let her go. The frown on her lips hasn't left and you wish you could wipe it away with a kiss.
You can't though. You use taking another pull off your cigarette as an excuse to look away and blink away the beginnings of tears. Crying in front of Josie is the last thing you needed right now.
"Whatever game you're playing, it needs to stop. No one needs your evil influence spoiling traditions that have been in place well before you even came to this school."
It makes you laugh, a laugh that tastes so bitter you shut your mouth immediately.
"Then I guess we still have different ideas of what people need." You throw the cigarette butt onto the floor and crush it under your heel. "I'll be here when you've decided you're done losing."
You make it a point to push past Josie because you're still mad about that whole fire incident and start your journey to the nice bottle of whisky waiting under your bed.
You pretend you haven't added another layer of bricks to the wall in your chest.