Paris / Ted Lasso

52. No Harm

Guiltless / Theon Greyjoy out now!

"What's that?" Beard questioned. 

"Some spiced pumpkin- or gingerbread something that Poppy said i had to try." Ted answered taking a sip. 

"And?"

"It's darn tootin' delicious." Ted agreed. 

"Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na! Dani Rojas, Rojas. Dani Rojas." Dani declared running forward. "Hello, my beautiful coaches. May I join the drill?"

"Sure thing, Dani, yeah." Ted agreed. "But hey, y-you take this at your own pace, okay?"

"You got it, Coach." Dani agreed. Ted turned around seeing Sharon heading forward and watching from the bleachers. Ted waved but turned back around quickly.

"Did she not wave back?" Beard pondered.

" Oh, I don't think she saw me." Ted countered.

" She saw you." Beard corrected bluntly. 

"Well, thats fun." Poppy offered. 

"What?" Rebecca questioned. 

"Doc fixed Dani already, that was fast." Poppy peered out the window as Dani lined up shot after shot getting in the goal seamlessly. 

+

"Good night, coaches, and thank you for Dr. Sharon." Dani remarked happily. "She's incredible."

"No problem, Dani. Just glad you're feeling better." Ted agreed. "Yeah, but ho-hold on a sec. Um, I'm just curious." Dani smiled back at them. "What did she... Um, I mean, what ended up helping you?"

"Dr. Sharon helped me remember that even though football is life, football is also death. And that football is football too. But mostly that football is life!" Dani answered. 

"They all want their problems fixed?" Poppy questioned. "We were taught to live with our problems. Push through or push it down... why do these men want to be such pussies?" Poppy half mused and half seriously questioned. 

"A few of the boys asked to sit down with Dr. Fieldstone before she left. I don't see the harm, right?"

"No harm," Poppy agreed. "If she's good at her job like apparently she is. Have everyone scoring goals and hyped up, its better for us."

Ted poked at his dinner that night. Poppy and Birdie had finished, shoveling it down quickly and Birdie was onto seconds. Poppy leaned back taking a sip of her lemonade. Watching Ted. 

"You okay?" Poppy questioned after a long while. "The food not to your liking? It's a new recipe."

"It's great!" Birdie assured. 

"Oh it is!" Ted agreed shoveling a few forkfuls into his mouth. "Really great!" He mumbled through a mouthful. 

"Whats wrong?" Poppy questioned. He swallowed thickly. 

"I couldnt fix Dani." Ted admitted, washing down his food. "I... I couldnt fix him but doc could.... he's my player and I couldnt get through to him. but one afternoon with the doc and he was running out on the field again." Ted sighed shaking his head. "Am I a bad coach?"

"You are a great coach." Poppy assured. "Dani didnt want to disappoint you but he didnt know how to make you happy... sometimes telling a stranger your problems is easier than someone you love."

"You speaking personally?" Ted questioned. 

"No. I hate therapy." Poppy corrected. "We- Becca and I- did it once because our parents are so messed up and they didnt want us messed up- ha!- but it was so stupid. The man sat there and stared at us, he was void of emotion, took notes and just... didnt seem to care. He was just looking for our parents credit card." Poppy remarked. "So no therapy for me. But I have heard that strangers can be easier to talk to... you can talk to me though, about anything. I won't sit across from you all judgey unless you want me to." Poppy mused.

"I'm not a fan of it either. did it for a while with michelle and... I didnt like it. I think it was also because I was trying to make our marriage work and-" Ted hesitated. "You dont want to hear this." He realized that talking about his ex wife with his girlfriend was innocent. 

"You can tell me." Poppy assured. "I meant what I said. You can talk to me about anything. Including she who shall not be named." She teased. Ted got up moving around the table and kissed her. Birdie Ooohh'd out.