Tennis Imagines :)

David Goffin

A/N: there is a bullying scene in this story, so if you're uncomfortable you can don't read this imagine...on the other hand, if you have been bullied, don't be afraid to tell trusted adults/friends so that disciplinary action can be taken against the bullies! Here's sending some love to all of y'all during this difficult COVID-19 situation <3

Y/N's POV

Flashback

I could feel the stares of everyone as I walked around the school. Many of them were pointing at me, either having hushed whisperings among themselves, or just straight up giggling at me. Embarrassed, I walked with my head down from my homeroom towards the cafeteria. At the cafeteria, I quickly ordered my lunch, and sat at a table in the far corner, all by myself. I already kinda got used to all of these. After all, it was not like I was an extroverted person to begin with.

As I was eating my lunch, a bunch of girls walked over to my table, and a sense of dread loomed over me. "Hey, one leg," they taunted. I continued looking down and eating my lunch, trying to ignore them.

"Hey, are you deaf as well now?" One of the girls shoved my shoulders.

I didn't say anything, my mouth kept shut out of fear. I didn't know what to do to get myself out of this situation.

"Who do you think you are to ignore us huh stupid girl?" The leader of the group of girls used her hands to forcefully lift my chin up so that I was looking at her.

"Oh so you still don't want to talk? Girls, teach her the consequences of ignoring us."

I cowered in fear as punches and kicks rained on my body. I could hear them guffawing at my misfortune. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks.

Just then, I heard a deep voice booming. "You girls, go to my office now!" I slowly looked up to see the discipline master standing behind the group of girls, arms akimbo.

The girls sneered at me, rolled their eyes, before they trudged to the discipline master's office. One of the girls even bent down to whisper in my ears before walking away, "See you soon, loser."

After the girls had left, the discipline master turned to a blonde-haired boy. "Thank you for reporting this case of bullying to me. Please help me send her to the nursing bay to receive medical attention while I attend to the girls."

The boy nodded while the discipline master walked away to his office. He extended his arms out to support you, and you gladly accepted it. He even gave you some tissue paper to wipe away your tears. You were glad that you got out of this ordeal with only a few bruises here and there.

From that day on, the boy, whose name was David, always invited you to join him and his friends for recess and lunch. David and his friends always made sure that the group of girls never bothered or bullied you ever again.

You found out that David was very good at tennis, and every time he talked about it, his eyes lit up with passion and excitement. He had planned to turn pro around 18.

You had also shared with him how come you only had one leg, and the other was a metallic prosthetic leg. When you were younger, you and your parents were driving around in a car when you met with a traffic accident. Fortunately, everyone got out alive, but gangrene had set in around one of your legs. That leg had been crushed by the weight of the metal, and you had to wait a while before the rescuers could extract you out of the wreck. As a result, the doctors had to amputate that leg up until the knees, and it was replaced with a metallic prosthetic leg so that you could walk around rather normally without the help of clutches.

Many years had passed, and the two of you kept in close contact. You slowly understood the sport of tennis as David explained the rules and all to you. You began to enjoy watching tennis very much.

Although you couldn't always travel around the world to support your best friend because of studies and subsequently work, you always send messages of encouragement to him before matches. If he won that match, you would congratulate him. However, if he lost, you would try your best to cheer him up and encourage him to learn from this match so that he can improve on his future games. What you didn't know was that David was always smiling after he sees your messages as they cheer him up a lot and he appreciates that you care so much for him.

You never really thought much of your relationship with David, until one day when he was back in (Belgium where he was born/Monte-Carlo where he currently lives), he had asked if you wanted to be more than just friends. You were surprised as you hadn't expected this to happen, but nonetheless you agreed as you wanted to see where this relationship would go.

Over time, the two of you had grown closer and more in love with each other.

Back to the present day

As I stared at my reflection in the full-length mirror, lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice David had snuck up behind me. It was only when he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my right shoulder that I noticed his presence.

"Hey, what are you thinking, love?" David asked.

"Hmm... About the past."

He raised his eyebrows, hoping I would elaborate. "You were frowning just now. Is everything ok?" David sounded very concerned.

You turned around to face him. "I guess as I was changing clothes to get ready to go out, I was looking at myself in the mirror and I noticed my metallic prosthetic leg. I thought about the past and how we subsequently met." David nodded.

You decided to take this opportunity to ask David something. "David?"

"Yeah?"

"Sometimes, I wonder... Why do you not like other girls who have complete limbs, unlike me, who is short of one leg?"

David leaned in to peck you gently on your forehead, before looking earnestly into Y/E/C eyes. "That's because I love you for who you are, Y/N, and how you've always unconditionally supported me throughout my tennis career. I don't care if you have had one leg amputated; all I care about is that I have you next to me, and that I can call you mine."

You blushed. "Thank you for reassuring me, David. I love you too."

"No problems, my love. Now, are we ready to go out for dinner?" You nodded, and let him hold your hand as the two of you walked out of your shared house to his car.

~The end