'CAUSE WHAT'S THE POINT IF YOU AREN'T LOVING WHAT YOU'RE DOING?

[ season 1 — episode 06 ]

DISASTER STRUCK shortly after Daisy's almost kiss and Beard's discovery. Though it was a disaster, Daisy was relieved that she didn't have time to talk to her uncle about Jamie.

While running drills on his own on the pitch, Dani fell and hurt his knee. Now, he was in the locker room as one of the physical therapists iced it, making him scream from the pain he was in. Daisy stood by Higgins, both with a grimace on their faces from Dani's already swelling knee. Ted, Beard, Nate, Sam, and Roy were gathered as well — Sam was the one to hear Dani calling for help when he fell.

"Okay. Okay, okay, I don't understand," Ted said, speaking quickly while trying to not panic. "What the heck happened, all right? Did you trip over something?"

"That's the thing, Coach," Dani said, looking up at him, looking disturbed. "I did not trip over something. Something tripped me. Something not there."

Everyone in the room looked a bit spooked by such an ominous statement. Then Dani quickly moved his hands in the shape of a cross to be careful.

"Yeah. Okay, Doc. Let's go get him looked at," Ted decided. The doctor helped Dani to his feet, who limped out of the room, loudly wincing and crying out with each step. "Okay. You're okay."

Daisy's eyes moved to Nate as he sat down on the bench, looking rather guilty. "God, this is all my fault. I saw Dani go into the treatment room before training, and I didn't say anything."

"Oh! That was a mistake," Higgins told him, which confused Daisy as she moved over to her father and uncle.

Higgins wasn't the only one with an odd reaction. Sam looked at Nate accusingly. "How could you not say anything?"

"Well, I hope you've all said your goodbyes, 'cause we're never gonna see him again," Roy added.

"Hey, that's enough!" Ted finally snapped. "One more person says something that me and Beard and Daisy don't understand, I'm gonna have one of my son's classic temper tantrums."

Daisy just shook her head, knowing they were probably thinking of how he shouted at Jamie earlier. "It's really just him callin' Daddy a bunch of silly names."

"Yeah, you know, like, I don't know, 'dummy head' or 'poo-poo face' or 'poo-poo dummy' or... I don't know," Ted trailed off, looking between Beard and Daisy for assistance. "What am I missing?"

"Pee-pee fingers," Beard offered,

"Pee-pee fingers!" Ted repeated. "Come on, now. Spill."

The locker room was annoyingly silent, but after Daisy let out a bored sigh, Nate finally spoke up. "The treatment room is cursed."

"What?" Daisy asked, laughing a little.

"It's true," he insisted.

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?" Ted asked them, looking mostly at his two players.

"Well, I think it has a lot to do with grown men being embarrassed to admit that they believe in all this hoodoo, voodoo, juju business," Sam replied, shrugging a little.

"Hey, I don't believe it," Roy said defensively.

Ted nodded. "Okay, good. Then me and you, we're gonna go look in that room."

"No," he said quickly with his hands on his hips.

"Why not?" Daisy asked, the corners of her lips turning up.

"Because... No," he said again, looking at her pointedly.

"Because you think curses are real," she said, giggling. "You freaked out that one day about a jinx and didn't calm down until I knocked on wood."

"Shut the fuck up," he grumbled. "And no one is goin' in that room."

Ted then let out an annoyed groan. "Heck! Oh, man. I mean, Dani was out there, what, an hour ago? Running circles on that pitch like a joyous raven-haired golden retriever."

"Coach," Sam interrupted, "is it true in America, you guys have so many beautiful dogs in pounds that some get put down for no reason?"

"That is true, Sam," he told them while Daisy nodded sadly. "But it's also something a lot of female singer-songwriters are trying to change."

Roy and Sam both nodded in understanding that it was all that could be done at the time. Then Ted went on.

"Look, we're not gonna put Dani Rojas down. I'll tell you that right now—"

"He's not dying, Daddy," Daisy muttered.

"It's a metaphor, Darlin', and you know it," he huffed. "Gentlemen, I need you to gather up the rest of the fellas. 'Cause we got ourselves a curse to reverse."

✵︎

Daisy had never been in Mae's when it was so busy. The entire AFC Richmond team was crammed in the back half of the bar, and from her seat next to Roy, she could see the stunned looks on Paul and Jeremy's faces, which just made her snicker, knowing Baz would lose it when he arrived.

"Hey, Roy," Daisy spoke up since they were still waiting to begin. He let out a grunt at her and slid his eyes over to her. "I'm trying to think of some songs to use in the recital Phoebe and my other students will have in a few months. Thought I might get your opinion."

"Dunno," he shrugged. "Somethin' from fucking Disney or whatever. Phoebe loves that kind of shit."

"Yeah, I had already thought about that. Was kind of a three-way tie between Let It Go, How Far I'll Go, and Winner, Winner, Football Dinner."

Roy groaned loudly as Daisy grinned brightly, not even bothering to try and hide her giggle. "Fucking Keeley," he muttered, knowing she was doing checks on everyone for her new PR job.

"Will you sing it for me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Fuck no," he scoffed, trying to not smile at her. "And fuck you for making fun of it. That was to stop world hunger."

"And clearly, it was the cure the world needed," she joked.

Roy just nudged her with his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure there's embarrassing footage of you out there somewhere that I can find."

Daisy just laughed again. "You've met my father. There's plenty of embarrassing moments, I'm sure."

Ted was standing at the front of the crowd of footballers with Mae and Higgins at his side. He scanned the familiar faces, noticing one that was lacking. "Hey, Coach. Jamie?" Ted asked Beard over the chatter. Daisy looked back in time to see her uncle just shake his head. "Okay. That's okay."

Then he began to get everyone's attention so they'd quiet down. "Hey, guys. Hey, fellas. Fellas, listen up," he said, giving a little whistle. "Thank you, guys, for coming out. Look, I don't know a lot about this stuff, you know. I don't know about curses. But I do know this, they don't last forever. Okay, look at the Boston Red Sox curse. That's over. Chicago Cubs, over. Heck, even Mr. Martin Scorsese finally won his Oscar. But I think we can all agree that The Departed is not necessarily his best work."

"No," Mae agreed with a nod.

"Yeah. That belongs to The Color of Money," Ted declared.

"No, it's Goodfellas," Colin argued.

Ted just shrugged. "Agree to disagree."

"Nah, nah. It's Age of Innocence, bruv," Isaac chimed in.

Then Beard put in his opinion. "Cape Fear."

"I like Casino," Daisy spoke up, earning a nod from Nate, who agreed.

"Silence!" Roy suddenly shouted, getting tired of the banter.

"Oi!" Mae called. "Once the word gets out you lot are in here, this place will turn into a fucking zoo — and the answer's Mean Streets."

"Yeah. That's a good one," Ted admitted.

"Yeah," Isaac agreed.

"You're all here because of this poster behind me," Mae then said while pointing to a faded, wrinkled poster that had been hanging on the wall of the bar for years. "Mr. Higgins."

Higgins read the faded ink out loud for them all. "'Are you a fast, fit, fan of football?'"

"That's solid alliteration right there," Ted had to chime in, and Daisy nodded in agreement.

"Hundreds of those posters were put up around Richmond on the 18th of November, 1914," Mae explained to the men. "It was an invitation for young men to try out to be a professional footballer. It said to come to our stadium that day. And it was a lie."

"In 1914, the war was raging," Higgins told them. "There was no tryout. Just recruiters, waiting to encourage those boys to fight the fight."

"They enlisted four hundred lads that day," she said in a somber tone. "Very few of them came home."

"And after they enlisted, do you know where they went for their physical?" he asked.

Nate sat up in alarm. "Oh, Christ, it's our treatment room, isn't it?"

In an instant, nearly everyone on the team began to worry amongst themselves. Ted stepped back up to try and calm them down. "Hey, no, no, no. Hey, no, fellas. No, it was not, okay?"

Everyone grew quiet again, and Ted grimaced. "It was. I'm sorry, I'm lying to ya. I don't even know why I'm lying," he said, making them all get upset again. "I'm sorry. I just wanted y'all to take a breath for a second."

"Wait, wait, wait. What you're telling me is that we've got four hundred ghosts?" Isaac asked, panicking a little.

"That's too many ghosts," Colin claimed.

Richard looked defeated as he said, "We cannot fight them all."

Daisy looked at all of them in disbelief. In what way did her father even insinuate that they'd be fighting ghosts?

"We're not going to have to fight them, Richard," Ted said, reading his daughter's thoughts.

"Wait, so, Coach, how do we fix this?" Sam asked with a deep frown. "We can't change the past."

"No, Sam. No, we cannot," he agreed. "But we can choose to honor it. Now, those young men, they made the ultimate sacrifice. So I think it's only fair that we sacrifice something of our own. I'm gonna ask each and every one of you to go home tonight, find something, an item. Something personal. Something that you truly value. And I want you to bring it tonight to the clubhouse, at midnight."

All of them began to grumble and groan, no one wanting to get rid of something they cared about.

"No. That is bullshit," Isaac said, shaking his head.

Then Roy stood and shouted over all of their complaining. "We're all going to fucking do it!"

"All right," Isaac whispered, a little scared of Roy when he was loud and angry.

Ted nodded in thanks to Roy as he sat down. "That's your captain talking right there," he noted. "And hey, that'll be the whole team — Nate, Beard, my man Higgens. And we'll see if we can get Rebecca to join us too."

"Daisy's got to do it too," Colin spoke up, and several others hummed in agreement.

"I'm not part of Richmond," she said, looking back at him.

"Sure you fucking are," Isaac said, crossing his arms. "We're not throwing shit away unless you are too."

Rather than fight it, Daisy just shrugged and gave in, wondering what she'd be offering up to help end the curse. "Alright, but midnight is way past my usual bedtime."

Roy let out a huff that was almost a laugh, but what they all heard next made him tense up.

"Richmond! Richmond! Richmond!"

It was the fans chanting outside, crowding around the windows, peering inside to try and spot the footballers. Many team members began crouching down and covering their faces, dreading the mob that was waiting for them.

Mae looked at Ted pointedly. "Told you."

✵︎

Jamie found himself outside of Keeley's house, waiting for her to come out and meet him so that they could talk. He was confused and hurt — confused about Daisy Lasso and hurt from years of abuse from his father that was brought to the front of his mind by one little word.

Soft.

"Hi, Jamie," Keeley greeted as she came outside. He was staring at his reflection in the window of his car but looked up when she approached. "What do you need?"

"Babe, I said it was important. We can't go inside your house?" he asked, not understanding why they were outside.

"No way! We can't. Sex was, like, the only thing that you and I was good at," she admitted while leaning against the car. "I've had three glasses of wine. It's Pavlovian."

"Pavlovian? What is that? Is that the wine?" he questioned. Keeley just stared at him in disbelief. It was like a veil lifted as soon as she broke up with him, able to see Jamie for how stupid he actually was. "Babe, can we not at least just get inside my car? It's cold."

"No. You don't remember how many times we shagged in this thing?"

Jamie peered at her, thinking deeply. "So the car's also Pavlovian?" She simply nodded. "Think I'm getting it now."

Keeley just chuckled before asking again, "So, what's up, Jamie?"

"Fucking Ted Lasso," he groaned, rolling his eyes.

"He's really gotten up your bum, hasn't he?" she asked, laughing once again.

"Babe, he's not even a real coach," he complained. "Do you know what we're supposed to do tonight? Apparently, some bullshit sacrifice, show-and-tell bullshit."

"Okay. You gonna go?"

He just scoffed. "No, 'course I'm not."

"Is everyone else doing it?"

"Yeah, but I'm Jamie Tartt," he reminded her. "I'm not like everyone else. Do you think that I could've got from a council estate in North Manchester to the Premier League if I did what everyone else did?"

"No. I don't," Keeley told him softly. "You're a battler, Jamie. It's really hot." Then she nudged his shoulder, seeing how bummed out he was. "But maybe someday you should stop battling the people that just wanna help you."

"I can help meself all on me own," Jamie grumbled.

"Right," she said, not believing him for a second. "So, the whole team is going, yeah? Is Daisy?"

Jamie froze and slowly looked at her. "What do you know? What'd she tell you?"

"She told me that you kissed her. She felt really bad about it given we used to date," she explained. "But she said she knew you didn't like her. Not seriously, anyway. But I know that no matter how much of a womanizer and a player you make yourself out to be, you wouldn't just plant one on a girl you have zero attraction to."

Jamie scoffed at that and shook his head. "Babe, Daisy is a babe. Of course, I'm attracted to her. But I don't like her or anythin'. I don't, like, wanna see her every day and have her wear my kit to the games instead of Sam's or Roy's."

Keeley looked at him in disbelief, her mouth hanging open. "Holy shit, are you starting to like Daisy?"

"No!" he huffed. "I - I mean, I don't — No! She hates me, and I can't stand her perfect little personality and face."

"Oh, my god," she breathed out, shaking her head. "Jamie, this isn't me being the jealous ex-girlfriend when I say this. Don't go after Daisy, not unless you're gonna seriously turn yourself around — start respecting your team and listening to others, caring about someone other than yourself. Daisy doesn't need Jamie fucking Tartt to ruin her life, but just Jamie might be alright to have."

"I wouldn't ruin her life," he said, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe I was being dramatic, but if you do fuck it up and hurt her, most of your teammates will get together and kill you. Rebecca will make sure they never find the body. She's got the money to make that kind of sketchy shit happen."

✵︎

It was dark in the recovery room and crowded too as the whole team crammed inside and circled around a metal trash can. Inside the can already was Ted's wedding ring in a box — he didn't want to make a big show of getting rid of it. Daisy stood next to her father, her own item to sacrifice hiding away in the pocket of her sweatshirt.

"Gentlemen, I am, by nature, a believer," Ted spoke up, ready to start. "Ghosts, spirit guides, aliens. And heck, Daisy could tell you more about creatures of the night than I could about American football. Still, I can't actually tell you what lives beyond our physical world and what doesn't. What I can tell you, is that with the exception of the wit and wisdom of Calvin and Hobbes, not much lasts forever."

Ted's speech was cut a bit short as Rebecca suddenly entered the room, having accepted Sam's invitation from earlier. She squeezed past a few players with a newspaper in hand, coming to stand next to Daisy, who smiled up at her, so happy that she came. It meant a lot to the boys.

"Hey, boss. Glad you could join us," Ted told her.

Rebecca just nodded. "Hello," she greeted, seeing the wide grin on Sam's face from her arrival.

"Roy, why don't you get things started for us?" Ted then asked, looking to the captain.

Daisy kept her eyes on him, seeing some folded-up white fabric in his hands with blue stripes. "I was nine when I got scouted by Sunderland, and I'd never left London before. My granddad drove me all the way there, and it was freezing, and I was terrified." A few of the boys chuckled, so Roy snapped at them. "I was fucking nine! Say something!"

That shut them all right up, and he kept going. "When I got there, he gave me this old blanket. He said it was to keep me warm and to remind me of home. And that was the last time I saw him 'cause he'd, uh, passed away by the time I got back for Christmas, so..." Roy paused and took in a deep breath through his nose. "That is why Blankie means so much to me."

Isaac couldn't help but laugh and point at him. "Did you just say 'blankie'?"

"No, I said 'blanket,'" he lied while throwing it in the trashcan. "Conversation over. Sam, go."

As Sam stepped up, Daisy shot Roy a sympathetic look. He just rolled his eyes with a hardly-noticeable smile on his face.

Sam was holding a framed picture of a soccer team. "This is a picture of the 1994 Nigerian World Cup team. I pledged I wouldn't take this down until I made the team myself — and I still intend to do that," he said confidently before putting it in.

"You will," Daisy told him with a soft smile. And Sam just nodded to her in thanks.

The next to go was Richard, who was holding a small vial full of sand. He looked like he was on the brink of tears. "This sand is from a beach in St. Barts. This is the first beach where I ever..." Richard got choked up, and Daisy took a step toward him, worried about his reaction. "It's the first beach where I ever slept with a supermodel."

And just like that, Daisy was stepping right back as Rebecca rolled her eyes. Colin came up behind Richard and pat him on the back. "Smile because it happened."

"Thanks."

"Sam and Richard coming at ya from both ends of the spectrum there," Ted noted, not judging either of them. "Appreciate that."

"A girl once said I look like Clive Owen in these sunglasses," Nate said while moving toward the can. He held the aviators over it but couldn't seem to let go. "I don't think I can do it."

The whole team cheered him on, encouraging him since he was one of them now.

"Come on, Nate. Throw 'em in."

"You got it, Nate. Give it a toss."

"Good boy, Nate."

As Nate let go of them, Daisy looked up at her father with a frown and whispered, "Who's Clive Owen?" And he could only shrug, not entirely sure.

"Thank you. Thank you," Nate said while stepping back.

Rebecca didn't say a single word as she tossed the newspaper article into the trash can. Once she was back in her place, Daisy reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Is that today's paper?" Ted asked, a bit confused.

"There's something in there about me, as usual, and I'm trying not to care," she admitted. "Fuck the haters."

"Word," Ted said a many of the players agreed with her claim.

The next to go was Higgins, who held up a pink cat collar. And in an instant, Daisy gasped and covered her mouth, knowing what it was for.

"This is my cat's collar. She was a faithful companion for twenty years. Gonna miss you, Cindy Clawford."

"Oh, Higgy," Daisy cooed, a pout on her face. "But also, that is a really neat name for a cat."

"Thank you," he said with a sad smile.

Isaiah was soon replacing Higgins, holding up a yellow pen with a duck at the top of it. "It's the only pen I can write my name with," he admitted before pressing a button that made a light flash and a quack sound. Daisy tried not to laugh as he tossed it into the can.

One after another, everyone sacrificed something that meant a lot to them. Daisy saw a lot of things in that time — an action figure, some expensive alcohol, a lacy thong that had Rebecca rolling her eyes again, some jewelry and a pair of boxing gloves.

"There are the keys to my Lamborghini," Colin said, holding them up. Then his eyes slid to Daisy. "The first time I saw Daisy was not when Coach introduced her. I nearly took her out running a light. I'm sorry I didn't say anything until now."

Daisy almost laughed in disbelief as he admitted to that. "I forgive you, Colin," she informed him, smiling a bit.

"It's just too much car for me," he declared, dropping the keys in the bin.

Beard looked at Colin, quite confused. "How you getting home?" he asked, and Colin didn't have an answer.

"All right. Everybody go?" Ted then asked, looking around.

Daisy was about to speak up, but someone beat her to it. "No," Jamie said from behind them. "I wanna go."

They were all surprised to see Jamie there, and none of them noticed him come in. Daisy moved to the other side of the circle to let him pass, standing over by Roy. He had a pair of cleats in his hand as he passed.

"These aren't my first boots or anything," he started off. "My mum gave 'em me. She was the one who got me into football in the first place. Her and me dad split up when I was just a sexy little baby."

Daisy couldn't help but giggle as he referred to himself as that. Jamie looked up at her after that, speaking more to her than anyone else.

"She's the reason I work so hard. Just wanted to make her proud. She doesn't even care if I'm any good. Just wants me to be happy. Be a good lad," he went on. Daisy thought he sounded so sad and broken.

"Once I got good though, me old man started showing up, didn't he? You know, bragging to all his mates every time I scored a goal. Calling me... 'soft' if I didn't... dominate, you know?"

Suddenly, Daisy understood his earlier reaction when they'd been so close to kissing. She could understand the vulnerability shining in his eyes as he was honest with her about why he was the way he was.

"And I hated that. I actually fucking hated that," he admitted, his voice cracking a bit. "So, I made a vow to be so tough that he could never call me 'soft' again. I wonder if sometimes... I forget about making her proud. I don't think that she would be lately."

Daisy shook her head the slightest bit as Jamie dropped his shoes in, knowing that his mother would've been proud if she'd seen the Jamie standing before them now. And Daisy wasn't the only one. Everyone on the team was surprised and moved by Jamie's words, not expecting him to take this so seriously. It made them all hate him just a bit less.

Ted and Jamie shared a look after that, one of mutual respect.

"Alright, our little cheerleader has to finish us off," Bumbercatch said, breaking the silence. He nudged Daisy forward, who just smiled tightly while pulling her sacrifice out, holding it out for all of them.

"Well, now I just feel like I'm copying Jamie," she said, making him smile as he stood across from her as she held a pair of pointe shoes up. The pink fabric was worn down, the shoes completely dead. "I wouldn't normally be teaching ballet at my age. I was dancing as a career before. Even did my last year of high school online so that I could focus on it and train more. So, these ain't my first pair of pointe shoes, but the last ones I danced in before I decided to be a teacher — decided to quit."

"What's that red stuff on it?" Isaac asked, leaning a bit closer.

There was red staining the right shoe, swallowing up most of the pink.

"Blood," she said, making him step back with wide eyes.

"A girl was furious that I got the lead in Swan Lake — said some stuff about Odette needing to be pure and delicate. Said she wasn't supposed to look like me," she explained, making many in the room frown. "But I was better than her no matter how my hair looks or what my skin tone is. You know, I spent hours a day training. It was all about competing and making sure I was the best, and there whatn't no room for making friends."

"So, opening night, I had to swap shoes for a costume change, and that girl had done the old razor blades in the shoes trick."

"What the fuck?" Roy asked, his eyes full of disgust for someone he didn't even know. Also, what the fuck kind of activity had his niece gotten herself into if something like blades in shoes was common enough to be a trick?

"I realized right away and pulled it out of the left before putting it on, but it still got my right foot pretty good. And there was just enough time to slap a bandaid on it and go back out there, 'cause hell no was I lettin' her go on as the understudy," she said with a humorless laugh. "That was probably the best performance of my life, honestly, and I bled all through it, in agonizing pain. And it just made me realize that I didn't love dancing like I used to. It made me tired and anxious and sad. So, I quit after that. Started teaching, spreading that love for ballet I used to have."

Daisy was watching Jamie as she spoke, him looking right back at her. "'Cause what's the point if you aren't loving what you're doing? If you're not passionate about it?"

"Do you have a scar?" Isaac couldn't help but ask, glancing at her sneaker-covered feet.

"Yeah," she said, rolling her eyes playfully. "I'll show you later."

Once her pointe shoes were in the trash can, Ted stepped up while pulling a box of matches from his pocket. "Well, gentlemen," he said while shaking the box. Then he pulled one out and lit it. "What do you say we burn this crap?"

"Maybe we should do this part outside," Beard said loudly, his eyes wide.

"Yeah," Ted said, blowing it out. "That's a good call. Yeah. That's smart. Okay. Hey, would you guys mind grabbing this for me?"

The team all helped get the heavy can outside and onto the pitch where it would be safer. And Rebecca donned a coat to join them.

Jamie was amongst the last to leave the recovery room, thinking to himself. And he wasn't expecting to see Daisy outside the door when he did finally leave.

"That Jamie that was in there," she said, nodding to the room. "I know your mama is proud of him."

"You think?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I know she is," she assured him. "I'm proud of you too. I know that wasn't easy. Now, c'mon. Let's go burn your daddy's crap opinion of you."

"Daisy," he called as she moved to join the others. Jamie reached for her wrist to pull her back.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"I didn't ask permission last time," Jamie murmured. "What would you say if I asked to kiss you a second time?"

For a moment, Daisy thought her heart had stopped. God, this boy was giving her whiplash, but she was starting to not mind all that much. So, rather than say anything, she stood on her toes and grabbed the sides of his face, kissing him softly.

Jamie pulled her closer, kissing her back just as gently, trying not to smile into it. His tongue traced her lips before pushing them apart, exploring her mouth as she sighed contently into the kiss. And when they pulled away, Daisy couldn't help but smile as she wiped some of her lip gloss off his mouth.

"Let me guess?" she asked, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Pretend that never happened?"

"How about we settle and call that our real first kiss?" he countered, raising an eyebrow.

"I figure that sounds fair 'nough."

"I like how you talk," Jamie murmured before leaning down to kiss her gently once again.

She smiled into the kiss. "I like how you talk too," Daisy said. "You sound like a pirate when you use 'me' instead of 'my'."

"Well, I'd be a fucking hot pirate."

"Yes, you would."

✵︎

Even though they were outside, Daisy didn't think it was wise to be standing around a huge fire burning in a metal trashcan. But no one else seemed to complain as the team stood around it, laughing and cheering. She was squished between Jamie and Sam, glad to see them getting along for once.

"Hey, fellas!" Ted called, getting their attention. He was a few meters back and standing next to Higgins and Rebecca. "I think the only way to know if the curse has been lifted or not, we need to ask the spirits for a sign." Daisy looked at her father in confusion as he closed his eyes and raised his hands. "Oh, spirits... speak to us."

Evidently, the spirits chose to speak in the form of a very hyperactive footballer. "Nanana nah! Dani Rojas! Rojas! Dani Rojas!" Dani chanted while running out onto the pitch just like he had that morning.

Everyone cheered and clapped as their teammate joined them, his knee in working order once again. And he had a bottle of alcohol in hand, just as prepared to end the curse as the others. "I brought a bottle of mezcal to throw into the curse fire."

Jamie quickly intervened. "Hey, hey, hey. Rojas, look," he said, pronouncing Rojas wrong as he did so. "Whatever ghosts it were that made you trip over, they're gone now, I promise, yeah. Crack that bastard open."

"Yeah, boy!"

"Yeah."

"Jamie's not wrong," Roy said, waving his hand at Dani. "Ghosts prefer empty bottles that we've all drunk. Fact."

"Let us celebrate, amigos!" Dani exclaimed while unscrewing the top.

Everyone cheered as he did so. After Dani took the first sip, he passed it on to Jamie to share. Then he handed it off to Daisy, who shook her head.

"Something tells me I'm not going to like the taste," she denied.

"No," Roy said, coming closer with a grin on his face. "They brew it to taste just like those fruity little drinks you like. Trust me."

Daisy eyed the older man skeptically before taking the bottle from Jamie, who let out a loud whoop. She took one sip, only for the alcohol to burn and make her throat feel like it was closing up. So, she spit it out, the liquid getting all over Roy, who just closed his eyes and took it as his teammates laughed at him.

"Sorry," she mumbled while wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"No, don't apologize, love," Jamie said, snickering while throwing an arm around her shoulder. "But keep away from the fire, mate, or those caterpillars sleepin' on your forehead might burn up."

Roy just rolled his eyes while taking the bottle from Daisy, downing a big mouthful without flinching before handing it to Sam. "I can't believe you wasted some of the curse alcohol," he told Daisy with a disapproving look that just made her laugh.

"Hey, Coach, you joining the party or what?" Jamie then shouted, calling Ted over.

A second later, both Ted and Higgins joined them, everyone welcoming them with excited shouts and cheers. "All right now, what's this going on?" Ted asked, looking at all the smiling faces. This was the first time it felt like they were a team. "What's going on here? What's going on?"

As the mezcal got passed to the coach, Jamie then began to lead the chant they heard every week from the stands, looking the happiest he had since the Lasso family entered his life.

"Richmond till we die. We're Richmond till we die," he sang as everyone else quickly joined in. "We know we are, we're sure we are. We're Richmond till we die. We're Richmond till we die. We're Richmond till we die. We know we are, we're sure we are."

All of them danced around the fire, Sam twirling Daisy around and between Roy and Jamie. Then they all got louder as Ted began to chug the bottle of alcohol in one go without stopping. As everyone jumped around and sang, he tossed it into the trash can. Because of the little bit of alcohol still in the bottle, the fire jumped up higher, making Daisy laugh and stumble back, bumping into Jamie.

He steadied her with a hand around her waist, grinning down at her as they sang together. "We're Richmond till we die. We're Richmond till we die. We know we are, we're sure we are. We're Richmond till we die!"

✵︎

Daisy was in a fantastic mood as she followed her father to work. She was actually kind of bummed out she'd have to leave in just thirty minutes for a day full of lessons. There was an extra skip in her step as she thought back on the fun night, dancing and singing with Sam and Roy, letting Jamie sneak a teasing kiss when no one was looking, feeling like she finally belonged in Richmond.

"Morning. How y'all doin'?" Ted asked as they passed his coworkers, in just as good a mood. They passed a girl riding down the hall on a scooter, which just made him laugh. "Hey. That's cool."

"Sounds like they're having fun," Daisy noted, hearing the commotion in the locker room before seeing it.

Inside, everyone was playing around, throwing things back and forth while joking. Long gone was the team divided that'd been holding them back. Everyone actually wanted to be there with each other.

"Oh, boy!" Ted exclaimed, catching a water bottle that was being thrown to Winchester. As they passed, Ted tossed it over his shoulder. "Here we go."

Then they moved past Zoreaux and Bumbercatch, who were throwing a football back and forth. Ted ducked to avoid being hit by it. "Interception. Easy, gentlemen, easy."

"Headers!" Daisy exclaimed, grinning at Zoreaux.

He tossed the ball her way, and Daisy knocked her forehead into it, sending the ball right to Roy, who caught it before it could hit his face. Before he could throw it back, she ran after her father, meeting Beard in the office, who was crouched over his desk with his head in his hands.

"Good morning, honey bunch," Ted greeted him. "You hear that buzz out there? I love it. How you doing?"

Rather than say anything, Beard just stared up at them solemnly.

"B, what's wrong?" Daisy asked with a worried frown. Beard wasn't always the most vocal, so they could tell a lot by his facial expressions.

"Manchester City took Jamie back this morning. He's gone."