september 16th, 2022
marley got ready like usual and drove over to the facility. she looked at her phone, she hasn't gotten any happy birthday texts yet.
she went into her office, set down her stuff and went to the practice field. she checked her watched, 11:58am.
she was only 2 minutes early, and not a single person was in sight. she checked her email and texts to see if they changed the time practice was set for, but nothing.
she called zach, he didn't answer. now she was really confused. what is going on?
she went into the locker room to see if anybody was in there, but it was dark and empty.
she went back to her office and sat down. she tried to think about if someone changed the schedule and it just slipped her mind, but she couldn't think of anything.
she called lou, he didn't answer. she called zach again, he didn't answer. joe didn't answer, sam didn't answer. what is going on?
she went back onto the field, and everyone was there as if they always had been.
"is everything ok?" zach asked. "you're usually early."
"uh, i was early, nobody else was here. you guys didn't answer the phone." marley said.
"i don't have any missed calls, and we've been here since 12." lou said. "are you feeling ok?"
"yeah, i'm fine." marley said, letting it go. practice continued as it usually would.
"could you grab my book bag out of the locker room?" zach asked marley. she went to the locker room to grab it.
when she walked in, it was decorated with streamers, balloons, and signs. there was a big banner that said, 'happy birthday mar!' right in the middle.
they did this for her, and the fact that they did this made marley very emotional. she looked behind her, the team was standing there.
"who's idea was this?" marley asked looking at it all.
"sam's." lou said. "and sorry for gaslighting you."
"are you crying?" zach asked. marley was in fact crying.
"shoot." jamar said. "what did we do wrong? you made her cry sam!"
"no, there not sad tears." marley said. "they are happy tears, and overwhelmed tears."
"we didn't even bring out the cake yet." mike said, everyone quickly shushed him.
"it was supposed to be a suprise, but mike kind of ruined that." sam said, revealing the cake. "it's ice cream, i know you don't care for cake too much."
"but you have to blow out the candles before it melts." joe said.
"please don't sing the song." marley said. they started singing the song. she stood there, awkwardly until they finished.
marley closed her eyes, made a wish, and blew out the candles.
"what did you wish for?" lou asked.
"if i tell you, it won't come true and i really want this wish to come true." marley said.
they cut the cake, and distributed the pieces. "you have to open your gifts." tyler boyd said.
"i got gifts?" marley said, she didn't even notice the stack of presents in the corner.
"it's your birthday, obviously." jamar said.
once everyone finished eating the very good ice cream cake, marley started opening her presents. everyone was watching her. "this is a lot of attention that i'm not used to." marley said.
she grabbed the first bag, and she opened the card. it was a funny one with a dog on it, from jamar. it had a $100 bill inside of it and there was still more in there.
she pulled out the gift, it was a shirt. she held it up to herself, so only she could see it. jamar knew what it was. marley put the shirt back down and chuckled.
"what's the shirt?" zach asked.
marley showed the shirt to everyone else. it was a shirt with jamar on it, a bunch of different pictures.
"i think jamar got me the best gift." marley said jokingly. jamar patted himself on the back.
"thank you, jamar." marley said. she reached for the next bag, which was from joe. she pulled out a box.
"no way." marley said reading the label on the box. it read cartier. "you did not." marley said gapingly opening the box.
they were cartier glasses, just like the ones joe wore during the afc championship game.
"thank you, they're so pretty." marley said. she was already planning an outfit in her head to wear with the glasses. she opened the other gifts.
the last one, by process of elimination, was from sam.
it was a piece of paper. it said go to the meeting room.
marley was confused, and went to the meeting room, then following.
the projector was on, she sat down. the video started playing.
it was a bunch of players from around the league that she was friends with wishing her a happy birthday.
josh allen, patrick mahomes, justin jefferson, jj watt, travis kelce, dak prescott, even tom brady was in it. and of course, the bengals were too. she was crying again, this was the sweetest thing ever.
the end, was definitely not what marley expected. her parents showed up on the screen.
"hey marley, it's your parents. believe it or not, we are so proud of you and everything you've accomplished. we know that this is what you've always wanted to do and we are sorry for trying to hold you back from that. you've matured so much and we couldn't be prouder of you." her father said.
the tears were just spilling now, this meant a lot to her. knowing that her parents are proud of her.
"when sam reached out and asked us to make you this video, i had this feeling of relief knowing that you have a group of people surrounding you that care about you. like your father said, we are very proud of you and i hope you continue to be great and live out your dreams." her mother said.
the screen changed to a tiny square of everyone saying happy birthday simultaneously.
after the video ended marley put her head in her hands. this was single handedly the nicest thing someone has ever done for her.
"are those happy tears again?" jamar asked.
"they are emotionally overwhelmed tears." marley said wiping her eyes.
"thank you guys." marley said.
"i'm not taking credit for this, it was sam's idea." trey said. so sam came up with the party idea and the video?
"thank you sam." marley said. everyone left the room, leaving marley and sam in there.
"won't lock you in this time!" mike said before closing the door.
"i got you something else too." sam said pulling something out of his pocket.
"you did?" marley said. "that video was amazing enough. i loved it. how did you even find my parents?"
"i tracked them down." sam said. he passed her a jewelry box. she opened it and it was a gold necklace with an infinity symbol on it.
so no, sam didn't give her flowers or candy. he gave her infinity. that, lasted forever, longer than anything else every would.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
i love this chapter sm
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assistant coach • sam hubbard
Fanfictionin which marley brown quickly falls in love with the charming defensive end, sam hubbard. well, maybe she already has been in love, maybe she is just coming to her sense. with her being his coach, this couldn't be your causal love story. it is a lot...
