Welcome To The Media (Dylmas AU)

18. Sticks and Stones

Thomas's pov

*five days later*

American football.

Grown men chasing after a big, heavy ball, pushing each other to the ground like neanderthals, and throwing hissy-fits when their team doesn't win. What's not to love?

Well, as it turns out, there's a lot not to love.

The first, most prominent reason that comes to my mind when listing everything wrong with the bloody sport is how so many people actually like it. They find actual enjoyment in playing fetch on a field while the threat of breaking your fucking spine is a very real concern. For some reason unbeknownst to me, American football is fun and entertaining to them.

And guess what? Guess the good news! Guess who really l o v e s American football? Kaya Scodelario.

And you know what they say: Kaya gets what Kaya wants.

And Kaya wanted to play American football.

I could tell the moment the cast stepped onto the field that there were several people who didn't look too thrilled to be taking part of this either. Kaya had insisted however, saying how our 'time together was running out' and we 'should make the most of every moment we have together' and though I partially agreed with her, I mostly just couldn't find a reason not to come. So I let Kaya's bouncing form drag me onto the muddy grass, sighing as my white shoes turned brown.

Kaya began her excited babble as we all gathered in a circle. She started explaining the rules, and I tried following, I really did, but that's the other thing that I hate about American football: it's so bloody confusing.

I zoned out after about a minute. Looking around the park in which we were playing, I saw that there were quite a number of young teenagers here. We had yet to be discovered, but I doubted that that would last long.

I began looking at each person in our group individually. Will made eye contact with me, giving me a do we actually have to do this type of look, and I shrugged. After I had scanned the crowd, I noticed Dylan wasn't here, though that wasn't unexpected. He had been working crazy hours lately--almost sixteen hours on set a day--and with the high physical demands of the movie, his body was taking a sure beating. Filming was about half-way done at this point, with just a week left, but I was worried Dylan wouldn't be able to make it that long. Our coffee chats had become part of our new nightly routine, partly because we had both found that the other was actually enjoyable company (even if he refused to admit it), but mostly because Dylan was so tired he needed the extra shot of caffeine to get him through the rest of the night.

I was wrenched from my thoughts as Kaya began dividing us up into teams, obviously finished with her lecture. After a few moments, her brow scrunched up, and she said, "The teams are uneven."

I perked up at that. "Oh, darn!" I exclaimed. "I guess we can't play."

I even snapped my fingers as if I was disappointed, though Kaya saw right through my act with a scoff. She opened her mouth to reply, but was promptly interrupted.

"Of course we can still play," came an all too familiar voice. I didn't turn around before I groaned out loud.

"You just had to show up, didn't you?" I exclaimed, turning towards a worn out Dylan. I must have missed him approach, though there was no ignoring him now. Deep bags were under his eyes and his face was layered in dirt and sweat, but somehow, he was still smiling.

"Geeze," he began mocking, "Don't be so happy to see me, Tommy."

Will snorted next to me, shaking his head. I just rolled my eyes.