Basketball au // dnf

3

"Davidson! You're distracted!"

George sighed, the game they were playing getting stopped, the rest of the team standing up straight.

The practice had been going pretty badly for George, his focus remaining somewhere else than it should be.

It was near the end of it and they were playing a five v five on a full court, George had been in the wrong headspace the whole practice.

"Come here," the coach said.

He pointed at George and signaled for him to come up to him as the assistant coach pushed another player onto the court, telling them to keep going with the game.

"You seem really out of it today, George, what's on your mind?"

One thing George loved about his coach was that he was really caring and really nice, respectful of his players.

But he could also be really nosey, just like a normal person would be but sometimes it would piss George off.

George shrugged at the older man's question, the coach putting his hand on George's shoulder.

"I just didn't sleep well, I guess," George said. The classic excuse.

His coach hummed. "You have to remember to get good sleep, it's important if you're an athlete."

The brunette nodded. "I know."

"Good," his coach said. "Now go stretch or dribble or something while they finish up, you have to get back into the right headspace for tomorrow."

"Will do," George said, earning a pat on his shoulder from the coach.

George walked away, sitting down in the corner of the space outside the court to stretch to prevent sore muscles.

He tried keeping his focus on what they were doing inside the court and what the coach was saying whenever he stopped the game to criticise them.

As much as he tried to focus, his mind always drifted back to the blonde man he had just met yesterday, yet George had been thinking about him for almost all night, for some odd reason.

So he didn't necessarily have a bad sleep, he just fell asleep late. So he wasn't necessarily lying.

Since he had zoned out, George didn't realise that his coach had ended the match, the players sitting in a circle in the middle of the court stretching.

"George!"

The man looked up from the floor, making eye contact with his coach.

"Yes?" George answered.

His coach nicked his head in the direction of the team which the coach stood above, George getting the message and coming over to them.

The coach nodded once George sat down, then started talking again. George couldn't even find the will to listen to him, eyes glued to the floor as all noise turned into a buzz.

Before he knew it the practice was being ended by the coach, his teammates clapping as they stood up, George quickly doing the same.

"You're staying behind, George," the coach said.

George sighed, disappointed in himself and ran his hand through his hair as he walked up to his coach.

"There's obviously something on your mind, Davidson, you're not just tired," the coach stated.

"Mhm," George hummed awkwardly, his eyes on the floor as his head hung slightly.

His coach ducked his head down to try and make eye contact with George as he put his hand on the brunette's shoulder.