AN: Hey guys, thanks for the support. It means a great deal to me. I do have a question though, would you want the MC and Billie to have been childhood friends (but like the type that people would always say would get married in the future) or more of a love at first sight (that gradually develops but is the type of love that gives you butterflies and makes others think your just obsessed with one another). I am more partial to love at first sight, to be honest. I just think it is a more realistic thing to happen. Like, sure, they could have been childhood friends, but I don't think that would work, in my opinion. It's also a bit of a cliché. Tell me what you guys think :).
Childhood friends
Or
Love at first sight
That's all for now, folks. Enjoy the chapter.
—-------------------------------------------------------------
General POV
Dick was sitting in an all white doctor's office. He sat on the bed, waiting patiently for the results of his X-ray. It was funny how quickly things got done when you were an important player for your team. I mean, the game had just finished when Dick was practically carried to the on-site medical checkup after the tackle he experienced. He had all sorts of checkups done and was now waiting for the results of the imaging on his ankle.
Dick quietly took out his phone as he wanted to scroll Instagram for a bit, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. He looked up and saw the doctor come in, carrying some papers with him.
"So, Doc, what's it looking like? I'm fine, right?"
"I'm more than happy to report that there is barely any damage, other than some bruising, but that should go away on its own pretty soon. You've got a clean bill of health, Dick, so you can head on home while I inform the gaffer"
"Alrighty, thanks, doc"
Dick jumped off the bed and started to head out, thanking the doctor for his time before closing the door behind him. Dick quickly left to catch the train back home. At only 16, he didn't have his driver's license yet, but that would be the first thing he would do when he became old enough, and then he would get himself a nice car.
While sitting on the tube, Dick quickly pulled out his phone to see some of the reports from the game. The first thing he did was check Twitter.
@theoneandonly: Richard Grayson is going to be one of the greatest football players in the world, don't try to change my mind
@Billyboy: So, bro just casually scores 2 goals and an assist before the second half…yeah, unreal, we have the next Messi on Brighton
@Straightman: Listen, I'm not gay or anything, but isn't Richard Grayson like ridiculously handsome…also, have you guys seen that kid's ass, I mean Goodness me?!
@MODerator: @Straightman, yeah, police, it's this guy right here. Mate, you do realise he is 16, right?
@SDMNFan: Yo, did you guys see the teaser for the next Sidemen Sunday? It looks like they got Richard Grayson to be in it, the video is going to be sick!
@ProfessionalHater: I mean it's alright, like, he just scored a couple of goals…you guys are way too quick to call him the greatest when he hasn't even finished the full season, like you guys are hyping him up wayyyyy too much.
@Grayson.fan: Yo, @ProfessionalHater, when did you last score a goal in a professional game? After being chopped down like you were a fucking tree? Oh, you haven't…then shut yer fecking mouth ye wee pissbag
Dick chuckled at a few more comments, making sure not to take what the sad little internet trolls had said about him too seriously, as he knew better than to be offended by some keyboard warriors. Dick spent a bit more time doom-scrolling on the internet, going from current trends to music artists, which then made him switch from doom-scrolling to just popping on his headphones and putting on some Frank Ocean and then just looking out the window and enjoying listening to music.
But then his mind started to wander, and a very familiar female voice started ringing in his head.
"Again…Not good enough!...why can't you do the flip correctly, I've shown you how to do it a thousand times!... WHY ARE YOU WASTING YOUR TIME WITH THESE INSTRUMENTS AND 'SOCCER', YOU ARE A GYMNAST!!!"
Dicks shook his head, ignoring the shrieking sound in his head, turning the music up, the song "Pyramids" blasting in his ears and making him focus on the melody and lyrics and ignore the thoughts in his mind. That was a time in his life that he despised. Sure, sure, he was good at gymnastics; he was always considered a bit of a prodigy, but he hated it. Gymnastics just didn't make him feel the way football did, which is why even as a kid, he would spend every break time, every second, every minute where he didn't have something to do just playing football.
That was also why he loved his dad so much; he was the one who saw the joy Dick felt playing football, so he had argued with his wife so much just to try and get her to let Dick play football, but her response was always the same.
"Who cares what he likes…It's what he could accomplish that matters! He could be our ticket out of this shithole!!"
And that more or less summed his mother up, she was a wicked old bat who cared more about wealth than anything else. So, his dad divorced her, got full custody and moved with him to the UK when he was only 12. They moved into a cramped apartment, and his dad immediately started working multiple jobs to try to keep them afloat. He eventually managed to land a decent-paying construction job, but it wasn't exactly a goldmine. So Dick used what little he made now, which was around 1000 pounds a week, to try to help his dad pay the bills. However, his dad had actually slapped him on the back of his head, mostly playfully, and said
"Son, it's my job as your dad to take care of you, so you keep that money and put it in a bank, that is how you can help me…Now, when I'm old and my back has gone and when you are making them big footballer bucks, THEN you can help me as much as you like hahahaha"
A smile graced Dicks face, the memory sparking a warm feeling that spread through his chest, before he stood up and went to walk the last bit home.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Dick pov
I had just opened the door when I heard the familiar Italian-accented English from my dad.
"DICK! That you!"
"Yeah, Dad, it's me!"
He appeared from the corner, his 6'6 frame barely fitting in the hallway, a large grin hung on his face as he rushed towards me to pick me up and give me a hard hug that lifted me off my feet.
"Uuuurrrrggghhhhh"
I let out a groan as he squeezed me against his large chest.
"It's great to see you Dickie. How'd it go at the doctors?"
"It went well, I'm cleared for duty. I just have a bruise that the doctor said to cool using an ice pack"
He nodded before putting his large paws on my shoulder and guiding me into the kitchen, where a big pot of my grandmother's carbonara pasta was waiting to be eaten. I felt the saliva gather in my mouth as the smell hit me. My Nonna made the best food ever, but she was also a classic Italian old lady who always fed me wayyy too much and still called me skinny.
"Hahaha, yeah, I know you would recognise the smell. Your Nonna and Grandpa stopped by and she was quite stubborn about making pasta for me and you. She even accused me of under feeding you, and then she threatened both me and you saying '"Non cucinerò più niente per te se Riccardo non giocherà a calcio per l'Italia." HAHAHA" (I won't be cooking for you anymore if Riccardo doesn't play for Italy)
I burst out laughing as well, knowing my Nonna was most likely joking, but you honestly could never be sure with her. I sat down, opened a nice cool can of Coke Zero and started eating while my dad said
"You know, I wouldn't mind it either, hehehe, seeing my son join the Azzurri might be the greatest thing ever."
I looked at him and just smiled. I already knew what I would do if I ever got the offer, but he didn't have to know that yet.
"Well, Dad, we'll just see what happens, yeah? That's far, far away, so we don't have to worry about that for now"
"True, but with the way you are playing now, the calls will start pouring in"
I chuckled and kept eating my pasta. And after eating everything, and I was cleaning up after dinner, I was about to head to my room to read a bit before bed, but suddenly stopped. I turned to my dad, who was now on his laptop, reading glasses on the tip of his sharp nose.
"Dad…I just want to say thank you. For everything"
Dad took off his glasses, smiled at me before saying.
"Dick, I've told you before…If I had a choice to do it again a thousand times, nothing would change. I love you, son, and I always want to see you happy. And playing football, that's the happiest I've seen you"
I felt a stinging feeling in my eyes as I just whispered out.
"Love you too"
—-------------------------------------
4 days time skip – General pov
Dick was tying his laces, and he leaned back, going through his pre-match breathing exercises. His mind then wandered, and he started thinking about the last Sunday (2 days ago), when his video with the Sidemen came out. The overall response was really good. The video blew up, and his follower count shortly followed. He now had almost 700 thousand on his Instagram, and his other social media were close behind.
A lot of the comments were just roasting the Sidemen for losing to a 16-year-old, and others were complementing Dick. And most of the comments, as well as most of social medias and even some sports segments, were talking about him absolutely demolishing the sidemen in that 1 vs 3 challenge, with people especially talking about the similar movements between Dick's dribbling and Ronaldo (R9) dribbling, and that just opened a floodgate of different people comparing Dick and different pro footballers.
Then the gaffer came in and started going over the game plan.
"Right, lads, listen up!"
Everyone in the locker room focused immediately, their backs straightened, the chattering vanished, and everyone zoned in on the coach.
"We're playing with the same as always. Here's the lineup
GK Niki Mäenpää
RB Gaëtan Bong
CB Lewis Dunk
CB Bruno Saltor (c)
LB Liam Rosenior
RM Anthony Knockaert
CM Dale Stephens
CM Oliver Norwood
LM Jamie Murphy
ST Tomer Hemed
ST Dick Grayson
"After reviewing some tape, Rotherham is weak defensively on the left, and they push too far up on their attacks. The plan is, Dick stays up, Tomer, you go slightly further down, be the chain that connects the defence and Dick."
Dick nodded, glanced at Tomer Hemed, before cracking his neck and already visualising some different moves he could do to get past the defence on the left after what he saw on the tapes. The gaffer then finished up and said
"Alright, lads, go on and get those 3 points. Brighton on three
1
2
3
"BRIGHTON!!"
—---------------------------------------------
General pov
The game started like they had predicted, Rotherham United players immediately rushed forward to try and do a high-pressure attack. Dick stood near the halfway line, watching the Rotherham players try to penetrate the solid Brighton defence. About 6 minutes of the game had passed when all of a sudden, Bruno Saltor booted a loose ball up the field. Tomar chested the ball down before chipping over Vaulks, a CM for Rotherham, and then passing it to Dick.
Dick shot down the left-hand side, zooming past the other CM and leaving him in the dust. He reached the defensive line where Kelly, the Rotherham defender, lunged in to try and win the ball, but he went too early, so Dick nudged the ball through his legs and rushed toward the goal. One more defender came, which made Dick do some rapid scissors over the ball, before faking left, which tricked the defender as Dick then shimmied right, making the defender fall backwards after trying to go right.
Dick then, just outside the box, shot the ball with all the venom his leg could muster. The sound of the ball being hit by Dick's boot echoed in the Stadium, the ball shot forward, gliding just above the grass and then hitting the far post with a
"DING"
Before the net bulged, the goalie was stuck in place, mouth agape as he looked to his left and saw the still-shaking post.
Dick sped to the corner flag, his fist pumping by his side as he screamed in joy. Dick then jumped and fist pumped in the air before landing and hitting his celebration. The fans all screamed his name, waving flags and scarves and throwing beer like England had just won the World Cup.
Dick then felt multiple hands and bodies slam into him as his teammates came to celebrate. The team celebrated for a bit before jogging back to their positions.
15'
Dick ran like the wind and was about to reach the defensive line when he was cut down by Fisher from Rotherham. Fischer got a yellow, but the attacking momentum was shut down. Dick took the free kick and crossed it in, but nothing came from it.
24'
Dick got the ball passed to him close to the defensive line of Rotherham, but instead of shooting, he chipped it over the defender and let Tomer bang it in the top bins, first time. Dick rushed to celebrate with him before the group all joined.
43'
Brighton had a corner that was the result of a deflected shot from Dick. Rosenior was taking it, and dick stood in the middle of the pen, with Kelly pushing against him, trying to disrupt Dick. The corner kick came in, but it was too high in the air for the first line to head in. Dick, however, positioned his back to the goal before leaping in the air. It was like he was floating, he defied gravity, his back parallel to the ground as his boot connected with the ball and launched into the top right corner of the goal, the net bulging in response. Dick then landed on his feet, staggering forward before sliding on his knees and screaming towards the camera.
His teammates all crashed into him, screaming in his ear, and shouting all kinds of shit. They all smacked him on his back or ruffled his hair, while the fans just chanted his name.
"GRAYSON!
*CLAP CLAP CLAP*
GRAYSON!
*CLAP CLAP CLAP*
GRAYSON!"
*CLAP CLAP CLAP*
Dick then stood up and bowed towards the cameras, laughing before jogging back to the line.
The first half then finished, and during the break, Dick was subbed off. The game was already won, unless Rotherham pulled back a miracle, so there was no point in tiring him even more. The rest of the game went by as expected. Murray, who came in for Dick, scored once, but not much more happened than that.
The game ended 4-0, and Dick got the man of the match trophy and was interviewed by David Craig in the tunnel. He asked some questions like
"Richard, 16 years old, and this is your third MOTM award this month. You scored 2 goals tonight, as well as managed an assist. How does that make you feel?"
"It's unreal, to be honest. I'm just trying to take it one game at a time and learn from the guys, but nights like this… they make it hard to stay calm. I'm loving every minute of it."
"That third goal — you nutmegged one defender, dropped another, then booted the ball right into the bottom corner. Was that instinct or pure arrogance?"
"Ha, well, a bit of both to be honest. I mean, I've always been confident in my dribbling, but I did take that shot a bit far back. I could probably have gone closer and been safer, but I was pretty confident"
"Hahaha, and it seems like your confidence was not unfounded. Richard, thank you for your time"
"Thank you as well"