BY THE TIME THEIR NEXT GAME ROLLED AROUND, ISAAC HAD NOT SAID A WORD TO COLIN. The Hughes man had tried dozens of times, but Isaac would not even look at him. He even moved his hand when they were in the team huddle so that it would not have to touch Colin's. It was getting really bad, and Willie was honestly getting really scared for her best friend.

It seemed to be affecting them in the game as well. Isaac was chasing after the ball and accidentally touched it as Brighton kicked it out of bounds, which earned the other team a corner kick. " Oh, no! A thoughtless poke by McAdoo and a Richmond goal kick becomes a Brighton corner." One of the fans on the Richmond side began shouting angrily, and Willie furrowed her eyebrows.

She was pretty far away, but she had sworn that she had seen him before. He was a fan that sat in that exact spot in a couple of their past games, and he always got unnecessarily angry. She was surprised that he had not been kicked out of a game yet. Jamie had told her some of the things that he had said, which made her want to throw him out on the pitch and see how well he does.

Fortunately, Van Damme was able to stop the corner kick, but about five minutes later, Brighton got the ball past him and scored. Willie sighed because Colin had lost possession of the ball, likely because of how distracted he was. Isaac really needed to talk to him.

It seemed that Isaac thought the same thing. However, instead of having a nice conversation during halftime, he decided to just start yelling and cursing at Colin right there. It was so bad that Jamie and Sam had to hold him back while the Hughes man walked away.

The first half ended 1-0, and the team was down as they headed inside. The freaking angry ginger guy kept yelling at them, and most of them ignored it until Isaac. He whipped around, and Willie's eyes widened as he jumped over the wall and ran at him.

"What the fuck?" Willie muttered as he grabbed the guy by his collar and got all in his face. Security was able to pull Isaac off of him before any damage was done, but they still ended up with a red card, taking their freaking captain off the pitch.

The brunette girl was so confused until towards the end of halftime when she got a text from none other than Trent Crimm. It read: 'Colin wanted me to let you know that everything is alright. The whole team knows now, and they all support him. Still working on Isaac, though." She smiled to herself, hearting the message before turning back to the field where the team was running back onto the pitch, Sam wearing the Captain armband.

Colin did phenomenal in the second half. He assisted the team in two goals, meaning that they won. It no doubt had to do with the fact that he had such a massive weight off of his shoulders. Willie laughed loudly and hugged Rebecca and Keeley, so happy that her best friend did so amazing.

《❂》

LOIS HAD A GUY OVER, WHICH MEANT THAT WILLIE DID NOT WANT TO BE HOME. She had been planning to stay with Colin at his house and keep him company, but Isaac had shown up to apologize. So, she decided to leave them to make up alone. She headed to the liquor store to pick up some whiskey and vodka.

She knocked on his door at about eleven thirty, and he grinned when he opened the door and saw her. She held up the bottle and said nothing, letting the alcohol do the talking for her. He immediately opened the door further so that she could step through the threshold. "Come on in."

"I haven't seen you in a while," she commented as she took off her shoes. She blushed as he wrapped his arms around her from behind her and leaned in to kiss her on her neck as they took a couple of steps forward together.

"Yeah, I missed you," he murmured, his lips tickling her collarbone as they made their way into his kitchen, never detaching from each other until they made it to the counter. He finally released her and hopped up onto his counter as she began to crack open their drinks, pouring one of each. "How's Colin?"

She smiled because it seemed like the Hughes man was going to be completely fine. Now that Isaac had shown up and that the rest of the team had voiced their support for him, he had been pretty happy. "He's doing really good, actually."

"That's good," he responded, taking the vodka that she handed to him. They sipped in silence for a moment before he raised his eyebrows at her. He was clearly nervous about whatever he was about to say, which made her a tad anxious as well. "Hey, should we talk about what's going on here?"

"What do you mean?" she questioned, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. She thought that they were having drinks that might lead to something else later that night. At least, that was what her plan was when she showed up.

He took a few deep breaths, and she started to get scared. "Like, what are we?"

"What would you like us to be?" she asked, finally realizing what he was trying to say. It was obvious that they both had feelings for each other. He had confessed his love for her a little less than a year ago – wow, time flies — and she was honestly praying that he still felt that way.

He answered, shifting on his hands as he sat on top of the marble and looked down at her. She was smiling, which he took as a good sign. He built up his confidence for a moment before saying, "Well, I'd like you to be me girlfriend."

"I'd like that as well.," she responded, and a smile was slowly spreading across her face when she realized what was happening. She was about to be Jamie fucking Tartt's fucking girlfriend, and she was so excited. If you would have told her that three years before, she would have never believed you.

He was very excited by her reply, and he was struggling to stop himself from jumping around and spinning and leaping for joy. It took everything in him to keep his cool. "So, we agree?"

"It's not a business deal, Jamie," she laughed out. He was acting like they had just decided to work together on a financial project. She was getting ready to shake his hand and nod.

He rolled his eyes at her, and she backed up a bit as he hopped off the countertop. He got down o0nn his knees and grabbed her hands, and she giggled down at him as he stared up at her. HE begged, "Willow Carlisle, will you be me girlfriend?"

"Of course, I will, Jamie Tartt," she answered, and she yanked him to his feet. He did not waste any time before grabbing her chin in between his thumb and forefinger and pulling her into a kiss.

After a moment, they pulled away, grinning back at each other because they were both so happy. He slid his hand down to her waist and raised his eyebrows at her. "Hey, by the way. do you maybe wanna come with me to see me mum when we go to Manchester?"

"Really?" she questioned. Man, the man moved fast. Normally, she would be freaked out because of how quickly it was going, but for some reason, she was just excited. She had spoken to his mother over the phone before, and she seemed really nice and not at all judgmental. "I'd love to, Jamie."

"Good. I've told her a lot about you, and she really wants to meet you," he explained, and she could not help but blush at the idea of him telling his mom about her. On her end, she had ranted about him to Matt and Asher, and both of them had told her that she must really like him because she had never told them about a guy before.

She chuckled. "I'm excited."