i don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you (Ted Lasso)

we can't make any promises now, can we, babe? but you can make me a drink

Warnings for this chapter:
- Vague mentions of past trauma
- Implied abuse
- References to mental illness
- Adult language

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When Thea's fifteenth alarm goes off at half-past seven, it takes every ounce of willpower not to throw her phone across the room.

Instead, she blames Jamie Tartt for her predicament.

It takes some mental gymnastics to justify it. After all, her habit of swapping the medically recommended eight hours for naps has existed long before she met him. And it definitely isn't because of him that one of her students has aged out of her lessons.

But he is the one who got her this interview and that's just enough for it to be his fault.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Thea pulls her 'professional' clothes out from the back of her wardrobe.

It's the same outfit she has worn to every normal person interview she has ever had. A long black turtleneck dress stolen from Casey and a black hand-me-down blazer from her mum. There is enough of both of them in the disguise that she can pretend to be anyone but herself.

Which, she has found, is the only way she ever really succeeds.

She pulls her dressing gown over her clothes and makes her way into the living room.

Apparently, it is not too early for the rest of the world.

Casey is pottering around the kitchenette. Her blonde hair pinned back in rollers and one of many Juicy tracksuits covering her body. She looks over her shoulder and smiles at Thea. It's the same sunlight smile that accounts for half of Thea's vitamin D. So warm that one day it might just burn her.

Not smiling is Jamie Tartt. He's sat on the living room floor in one of his flashier outfits. Thea looks at him and can't shake the echo of their very first meeting.

It has been almost three weeks and Thea still isn't sure what to make of it all.

She's half sure she should be asking him for rent though.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you're allowed to sit on the furniture before you start listening to me?" She asks as she slips past Casey to make a coffee.

He doesn't answer her, but she catches him rolling his eyes.

"You look particularly gorgeous today," Casey says.

Thea raises an eyebrow at her friend, "catch your reflection again?"

"Alright, bitch, I forgot how grumpy you get in the morning." Casey pouts. "But really who am I kidding I'm a fucking stunner." She smiles that rare natural smile that makes her nose wrinkle. "How're you feeling?"

"Like death."

"Yeah, I can sense that." Casey reaches out and tugs at the end of Thea's ponytail. "D'you want me to plait this for you?"

"D'you have time?"

"For you? Always." Casey pulls out one of the barstools and waves her hand over it. "Please, join me in my office." She runs slender fingers through the tangles in Thea's hair and starts separating it into three bunches. "I can sort your face out as well if you want."

It's something that could sound insulting to untrained ears. But Casey knows Thea enough to know that she will sit for hours doing and redoing a single stroke of a brush if the mood takes her. It's not often but there's a precedent. Plus, Casey is trained in the art of all things make-up. Rejecting her offer would be like punching a gift horse straight in its beautiful talented mouth.