If tennis is your sport

Part 1

Note: this is fic is the extension of the headcanon in the picture. Enjoy!

Adam still felt angry with Gansey because of the whole idea. He obviously couldn't play tennis. Not as if he didn't have the physical abilities to play the sport, simply because he had never tried before and learning it, while half of the team had already known how to play is not something that most people enjoy.

He told that to Gansey too. Not on the court, but long before, when the boy first got the idea of go to play tennis with all his friends.

"Tennis is the riches game. You wanna be rich, right?" Ronan raised his eyebrows. "Then stop fucking whining and get your ass on the court!"

Adam stayed quiet. He had never seen Ronan agreeing with Gansey about a program they could do together apart from searching for Glendower. Adam had spent half of this year with these guys, but Ronan was still a complete mystery to him. This guy was a real pain in the ass like all the time and Gansey still kept him around, even liked him, cared for him. It was something Adam would never have done. He had enough problems for himself. He didn't need anyone else to look after.

So here they were – a day after Gansey decided they should play tennis – on the court of the school, reserved for only them. Adam couldn't help but felt as if he didn't belong there with his old t-shirt covered in oil from work that he couldn't wash out and a pair of sport shorts he found in his father's wardrobe. The shorts were too big for him, so he tied it on his waist with a shoelace. He must look like a clown.

On the other side, Gansey looked like a god in his freshly washed, nike training clothes, which were so bright white in the sunlight that they almost blinded Adam. He couldn't understand how can even that ridiculous headband look good on him, what he used to keep his brown locks out of his face.

Ronan took it simple he wore a black sleeveless shirt, and grey sweatpants. He span his rocket like some kind of crazy helicopter.

Noah, who rarely left the flat was also there, what gave Adam a little support. The boy couldn't play either. He didn't seem to care though. He sat on the bench next to the court and played with his shoelaces while Gansey and Ronan did some kind of stretching moves.

Adam himself didn't think he would play a lot, so he tried to come to terms with his rocket instead of warming up. Gansey rented it for him. Adam let him pay for something instead of him this time, which rarely happened, because playing tennis was totally against his will.

"Okay, ladies, let's play!" Ronan finished warming up.

"Fine" Gansey agreed. "I'll be with Adam against you and Noah, okay?" he turned to Ronan, who nodded.

"Cool! I was afraid you two were going to team up against me and Parrish" Noah jumped to his feet. He seemed happy with the teams and Adam had to agree. This was ways better than getting beaten up with Noah or having to work together with Ronan.

"Okay, should I show you guys the moves or will you just improvise?" Gansey turned to Adam and Noah.

"Improvise. Let's get it started" Ronan clapped his hands and walked to get his position.

"I wasn't talking to you" Gansey turned after him angrily, but Adam cut him off.

"It's okay, let's start" he said, though he knew it's a really stupid decision not to accept the only advantage he could get in this game. At least he could blame Ronan if he would do something wrong.

Gansey thought for a moment then shrugged and showed Adam his place on the court. The game – as Adam had expected – went horrible. He and Noah hardly ever touched the ball and when he did, it never landed on the other side of the net. Once Ronan's ball even hit Adam in the stomach.

At the end Adam and Noah eventually gave up and though they were still standing on the court they just quietly watched how Gansey and Ronan played.

It was at least an exciting fight. Adam carefully examined his friends playing style. Gansey moved with grace even on the court, every time he moved for the ball it looked as if every move of him was choreographed. He seemed really confident and his hits were strong.

On the other hand, Ronan played like a wild animal. He acted like the ball was his pray and he gave every inch of his soul into the game as he ran up and down on the field. His serves were strong and deadly, they gave a hard time to Gansey. Adam was surprised how much more he liked watching Ronan playing than Gansey. There was something in the Irish boy's movements that amazed him.

Later he realized he had hardly seen Ronan that passionate about anything. Maybe that was the reason why he didn't want to take his eyes off of the boy.

"What do you think, shouldn't we grab some drinks? I suppose they will be thirsty. It's exhausting even to watch this game" Noah moved closer to the net to get Adam's attention. "Also, I'm quite bored" he added. Adam didn't feel bored, but nodded and followed the other boy inside the building attached to the tennis courts.

An hour later all four of them were heading to The Pig, which was waiting for them in the parking lot. Adam and Noah spent more than fifteen minutes inside the cool building so by the time they got back Ronan and Gansey had already finished playing. Adam didn't pay much attention to Ronan's anger because they had to wait for them. He was occupied with his coke. He hadn't noticed how thirsty he was until he and Noah finally decided to stop chilling in the sofas they had in the building and bought some drinks.

He quietly handed Ronan and Gansey their fantas, then started to pack his stuffs – which were lying on the bench – in his backpack. After they got ready, they headed to the parking lot. The others were joking and teasing Gansey because he lost, but Adam just quietly walked next to them. He didn't really care, he was happy with his coke and the thought that he would never have to go back to the court. He first looked up from his bottle, when he had drunk all his coke. It was a mistake.

Ronan was pulling up the bottom of his black shirt to wipe the sweat away from his face, but all Adam could see was the piece of skin that was showing of his stomach. "Abs, abs, abs" that was all he could think of, because Ronan had abs. Abs covered in sweat due to the intense match he played. Suddenly he was grateful he hasn't had any coke, this view would definitely made him choke if he had something in his mouth, or the drink would pour right out of his mouth, because his jaws dropped.

He managed to take his eyes off of Ronan's body just in time not to get hit by a sneaky telephone pole.

"Watch out, Parrish!" Ronan laughed as he opened the door of The Pig. "Was playing tennis that exhausting for you? You haven't even touched the ball."

Adam was quiet all the way back to Monmouth Manufacturing. He was watching the back of Ronan's shaved head as he listened to Gansey's explanation why he had lost the game.

Adam knew he definitely wasn't gay. He had looked at girls the same way as he looked at Ronan before, but he never thought he would eye a boy. Especially not one of his friends. If he could even consider Ronan as a friend.

"Well, life can be strange sometimes" he admitted to himself. "Who thought tennis would be the thing that makes me reconsider my sexuality."