Iceland x Shy!Gothic!Reader - Basketball - P2

     Emil ran his fingers through his hair. Where was everyone?

     At the moment, Emil’s team only had four players, and you needed five in order to play. If a team member didn’t show up soon, then they would lose the game, and the tournament.

     “Where is everyone?!” The coach shouted, obviously frustrated.

     “There’s been a bug going around. I heard that Toby was sick.”

     “Yeah, same here. Tyler is also sick.”

     Of course everyone is sick at the time when we need them most, Emil thought, mentally rolling his eyes.

     “4 minutes left before the game starts. Looks like this is the end, guys.” The coach muttered. Emil thought franticly. Was there anything they could do?

     Then a light bulb literally went over Emil’s head. Glancing up towards the bleachers, he saw you in your usual spot in the corner of the room. Quickly running over to the coach, Emil sputtered, “Coach, we can have a girl play on our team if she’s good enough, right?”

     The coach thought for a moment. “Yeah, we’re allowed to do that. Why?”

     Emil smirked. “I have just the girl.” Turning to look at you, he caught your eye. Motioning for you to come over, he saw you hesitantly get up, and make your way to him.

     “What’s up?” You asked, keeping your voice soft.

     “This the girl?” The coach asked. You glanced to the coach, and then to Emil, confused.

     “Yep.”

     “Then congratulations, you’re on the team.” The coach placed a hand on your shoulder and looked you in the eye. Your eyes grew wide as he walked away.

     “Emil, what did you just do?” You asked, slowly turning to the silverette.

     He smiled nervously. “Well, I kind of volunteered you for the team. You see, we only have four players, and we need five to play. If we don’t have enough, we’ll be forced to forfeit. And nobody wants that.” He paused. “Are you alright with playing? I mean, you’re defiantly good enough.”

     You slowly nodded. “Yeah… I guess. It doesn’t look like a have a choice, anyways.”

     Emil slightly hung his head. “Sorry…”

     “No, it’s fine.” You said, shaking your head.

     The coach came back over to you and Emil. “Well, it’s a go. Here, put this on.” He handed you and blue and black basketball shirt, which was the team’s colors. The other team’s colors were red and black. You quickly slipped it on over your black t-shirt, glad that you had chosen to wear black basketball shorts today. Turning around, you saw the rest of the team.

     Emil pointed to one of the teammates with platinum blonde hair. “This is Gilbert, he’s a junior.” He then pointed to another blonde, but this one had it spiked up. “This is Mathias. He’s also he a junior.” And lastly, he pointed to, guess what, another blonde, with a stubborn looking cowlick popping up out of the part of his hair. “And this is Alfred. Also a junior.” They all waved to you as Emil introduced them. You shyly waved back.

     “And team, this is _____, our new teammate for the day. Don’t go easy on her, and treat her like she’s really part of the team. She’s just as good as me.” Emil said with a little pride in his voice. Gilbert, Mathias, and Alfred all nodded. As they turned around to sit on the bench, you turned to Emil, sudden anxiety taking a hold of you.

     “Are you sure about this?” You asked, worry etching your voice. You were also worried about your knee, but you didn’t want to bring that up, fear of that he might get worried, too.

     “Yeah, you’ll be fine. Last year we had a senior female play on the team because we didn’t have enough players.” He shot you a reassuring smile, and you smiled nervously back.

     A whistle blew, signaling the game was about to start. You followed Emil as he headed over towards him, along with the rest of the team. Once both teams were gathered in the middle, both teams wished each other luck, and then called the tallest player from each team for jump ball. From your team it was Mathias, and from the other team a boy you didn’t recognize, since he was from a different school. Since Mathias was facing towards the red basket, you assumed you were shooting there. Once everyone was in their positions, the coach blew his whistle, and then threw the ball up into the air between Mathias and the other teammate. As the coach ran off of the court, it seemed like the court became alive.

     Mathias had hit the ball towards the red basket, and in instinct, you ran towards the ball. You slowed down a little when you saw that Emil had grabbed the ball, and then shot it up towards the basket, and missed. Alfred quickly got the rebound, but from where he was standing, he couldn’t shoot. You held your hands up from where you were standing, which was the left corner of the key. Seeing that you were open, Alfred quickly shot it up into the air towards you. A black and red shirt quickly flashed in front of you to grab the ball, but you swiftly got around them and caught the ball. Shooting it up towards the red basket, you ran closer to the basket in case you missed. You smiled with relief as you watched the ball neatly go into the net. The crowd erupted in cheers, some cheering and other’s booing. As the other team got the ball and headed out of the court to shoot it back in, you made eye contact with Emil. He shot you a smile and a thumbs up, which you returned.

     Falling back with the rest of the team, you eyed the red and black jersey with the number “13”, who was currently dribbling the ball. He slowly walked down the court, but once he got to half court, he suddenly made a mad dash towards the blue basket. He’s going for a layup!  As quick as you could, you ran up to him and skillfully knocked the ball out of his hands. Gilbert, who was trailing behind 13, grabbed the ball, and passed it to Alfred, who was at half court. Alfred caught it, and running down the court towards the red basket, made a perfect layup, since everyone else was down at the blue basket. The crowd once again cheered and booed. Blue and black, 2; Red and black, 0.

     You quickly glanced at the time as the other team got the ball out. 6 minutes into the game. Only 6 minutes? Taking a big breath of air, you glanced around the court to see where everyone was positioned. As you heard the bounce of a ball, you looked down towards the red basket to see 13 once again coming down the court. This time though, once he got to half court, he passed the ball to another team member whose number was “21”. 21 caught the ball, and easily shot it towards the blue basket, the ball sinking into the net.

     Huffing in annoyance, you went down under the blue basket where Gilbert was holding the ball, waiting for someone to pass it to. Once he confirmed that you were going to carry the ball down the court, he bounce passed it to you. Grabbing the ball and then dribbling it, you turned around, quickly scanning over everyone’s positions. Once you got to half court, you sped up, heading towards the left of the court for a layup. But you were quickly surrounded by red and black jerseys blocking your way. Hearing a, “_____!” behind you, you turned around to see Emil open. Bending over, you bounce passed it to him, and tensed up when you saw 13 run for the ball. But Emil was quick, and grabbing it, he ran towards the right of the court, making a layup. Missing, a red and black jersey with the number “3” on it, grabbed it. Holding it, your team had no choice but to fall back.

     Once you all had fallen back, 3 started slowly dribbling the ball down the court. Huffing, you glanced up to the clock. 13 minutes into the game. Gosh, I don’t know how long I can last. Turning your attention back to the game, you saw 3 pass the ball to a number 6. 6 caught the ball, and quickly turned around to shoot. But instead he came face to face with Mathias, who easily blocked the shorter boy. As 6 tried to move around so he could pass it to someone, Mathias yanked the ball out of 6’s hands. As fast as a bullet, he ran down the court, easily making a layup into the red basket. Cheer’s and boo’s chorused into the gym. Blue and black; 3. Red and black; 1.

     Falling back towards the blue basket, you turned around to see a boy with the number 10 on his jersey running down the court with the ball. Quickly blocking him, he tried to bounce pass it to 21, but you whacked it out of his hands before he could. Emil quickly swept up the ball and dribbled down the court towards the red basket. But 10 quickly intercepted him and took the ball back, running and dribbling the ball back down to the blue basket, successfully doing a layup before anyone could block him. Cursing at yourself for being so slow, you turned and headed down the court towards the red basket. Blue and black; 3. Red and black; 2. Time; 17 minutes. Once getting into place, you turned around to see Alfred slowly making his way down the court with the ball. Frowning when a boy who was much taller than you blocked you, you looked to your left to see Gilbert was having the same problem. Once you caught his eye, you made a motion with your hands that every basketball player was familiar with. Switch.

     Nodding, you and Gilbert quickly traded places, effectively confusing your blockers. The blockers rammed into each other half way, not paying attention to where they were going. Alfred, seeing what was going on, chest passed the ball to you. You quickly spun around and shot the ball upwards, smiling when you saw it sink gracefully into the net. You, for some reason, searched the court for Emil. Maybe you wanted his praise? You didn’t know. Once you saw him, he quickly ran up to you, and held his hand up for a high five. High fiving him, he smiled. “Good job, _____. You’re doing great.”

     You smiled widely back. “Thanks. You too,” He shrugged at this compliment as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink, and quickly got into place as the other team started making their way down the court. Wiping the sweat off of your forehead, you watched 13 carefully as he passed the ball to 6, who were closer to the right side of the blue baskets key. Mathias blocked 6 while Alfred quickly stole the ball out of 6’s hands. Alfred then threw the ball to you, but it didn’t even get halfway before 10 intercepted it, grabbing the ball, and then making an easy layup. Getting frustrated at yourself, you let out a few curses.

     “Hey, don’t feel bad. It’s partly my fault, too.” You turned to your right to see Alfred, who was smiling sheepishly at you.

     You sighed. “Yeah, but I still could have done something…” Alfred shook his head.

      “Ehh, we’ll still win. So don’t worry.” He shot you another toothy smile before getting into place on the court. You just sighed again, and got into your own place. Blue and black; 4. Red and black; 3. Time; 23 minutes.

     ~Time skip to half time~

     You sat down on the bench trying to recover the oxygen that your body needed. You looked up when you saw a mop of silver hair sit down next to you. Emil handed you a cold water bottle. “Here,”

     You took the bottle from him and mutter your thanks before undoing the cap and drinking almost half of the water. You knew you were going to be playing for the rest of the game, so you didn’t want to drink too much.

     “How’s your knee?” Emil asked, turning to look you in the eye. You stiffened.

     “… It’s okay.”

     He smiled. “Good.”

     You looked down at the floor. That was actually a lie. It was hurting, just not that bad. You could still stand and run on it, it just hurt. You hoped it wouldn’t get any worse.

     You looked up when you heard a whistle being blown. “Well, looks like half time is over.” Emil thought out loud. As he got up, you also stood up, following him towards the center of the court.

     ~Small time skip, 24 minutes into the second half~

     You leaned down to rub your slightly swollen knee. You couldn’t deny that this was probably the worst it had ever hurt, but you weren’t going to speak up now. You had a game to finish. At the moment, the score was Blue and black; 8, Red and black; 7. Your team was also shooting for the blue basket now, since the teams change baskets at halftime. The other team also changed out its players. 21 and 6 stayed in, but 13 switched out with 1, 3 for 8, and 10 for 15. But since your team didn’t have any extra players, none of you could switch out for a rest. In was an understatement to say that you all were exhausted, but you kept playing with all of your reserved strength.

     Right now you were dribbling the ball down the court. Right when you were about to pass it to Emil, a whistle shot through the air. Stopping and turning your head towards the coach, he made a dribbling motion with both hands.

    You groaned, knowing full well what that meant. “Double dribble. Red ball.” The coach took the ball from you, and 21 stepped out with the ball at half court, ready to pass it in. As 21 tried to pass the ball to 15, Alfred grabbed the ball midway. Quickly running to the basket, he tripped on his own feet, causing the ball to roll off the court. Cursing, Alfred kicked nothing in particular as he got into place. The coach grabbed the ball and gave it back to 21 who was under the blue basket, and didn’t hesitate to throw the ball right back into the game. They’re making this fast paced so we’ll get too tired to play. Well played, red. Pun intended. You thought with sour humor.

     Running down the court with 1 who currently had the ball, you tried to block him as he shot up towards the red basket. Successfully making him miss, you turned around to try and grab the rebound. But 8 grabbed it first, and shot it back up, the ball going into the red basket. Your team all muttered curses as they walked down to the blue basket. Blue and black; 8, Red and black; 8. Time; 28 minutes.

     Gilbert passed the ball into the game to Mathias, who slowly walked down to half court, dribbling the ball. You saw the sweat on his forehead reflect the light of the gym, and how he was panting. 2 minutes left, c’mon guys, we can do this. When you saw Mathias dart left, you mirrored his movements, trying to protect him from any red and black jerseys. Wincing at the overwhelming pain in your knee, you didn’t get to him fast enough. Bounce passing the ball to Gilbert, Gilbert then chest passed it to Emil, since he was too far away from the blue basket to shoot. Emil was quickly blocked by 8, who was a head taller than Emil. Huffing, you quickly got to somewhere where Emil could pass the ball to you. “Emil!” You shouted, getting his attention. Seeing you open, he shoved the ball at you, which you caught. As you turned around, you saw you were farther from the basket than you thought. Quickly looking around for someone to pass it to, you saw no one. All of your teammates who were blocking everyone else were shouting, “Shoot!” Glancing up at the timer, you saw there was 5 seconds left. Gritting your teeth, you jumped up, and shot the ball into the air towards the blue basket. You watched in slow motion as the ball hit the backboard, and then the rim, and then sink into the basket. The buzzer went off right as the ball hit the ground.

     The crowd all erupted in ecstatic cheers, and you dizzily saw Emil smiling widely at you.

    “We did it, _____! You did it!” He said, his voice tired, but excited. You gave him a tired smile, before the world spun, and right after you heard a dull thunk, everything went black.

     ~Emil’s POV~

     “We did it, _____! You did it!” Emil said, still trying to catch his breath, but excited all the same. He watched as you gave him a tired smile, and then in slow motion, he watched as you fell towards the ground, landing with a dull thunk. Gasping in horror, he ran up to you, kneeling down beside you. The crowd suddenly went pin drop silent. The school nurse, who was required to be there, ran up beside Emil and you, also kneeling down.

     “Do you know what’s wrong?” The nurse asked while she scanned over your pale body.

     Emil glanced at your swollen knee. “She has problems with her knee, and from the looks of it, it’s swollen. And she also looks exhausted… my guess is that she passed out from exhaustion and pain.” Emil said, surprising himself at how logical he was being. The nurse nodded in agreement, and then stood up.

     “Can you carry her?” She asked. Emil quickly nodded. “Then pick her up and let’s go to the infirmary.” Emil did as he was told, and gently picked your lighter and smaller form up, princess style. He glanced at everyone’s faces as he passed them. Mathias, Alfred, and Gilbert had shocked and horrified expressions on their faces, while the red and black jerseys all looked guilty. Even the coaches looked guilty. They probably had been watching you, and felt bad for not calling a break. As Emil left the gym, he just followed the nurse, his brain too tired to think straight. He knew was exhausted, but he also knew he was worried sick about you, and felt horrible for not noticing your pain. I should have noticed she was in pain. I should have called a break so that this wouldn’t have happened. Damn you, Emil. What kind of friend are you if you can’t even protect your 1 of 2 friends?

     As Emil entered the infirmary, he softly lied you down on the patients’ bed. Glancing over to the nurse, he saw her grab an ice pack out of the freezer, and then wrap it in a towel. She held it out to him. “Put this under her knee.” Nodding, he gently lifted up your swollen knee, and then placed the ice pack under it. Turning around, he saw the nurse right next to him, leaning over you. She lifted your eyelids up, and shined a light into your left eye, and then the right. Seeing that nothing was wrong, she stepped away and put everything back where they belonged. Emil took another worried glance at you, and then turning back to the nurse, he asked “Is there anything else I can do?”

     The nurse shook her head. “No, but you should watch her. She could wake up soon or maybe in a few hours. But you are welcome to stay here with her until she does. The building will be empty in an hour, but since you can open the doors from the inside, you’ll be fine.” The nurse said. Emil nodded, but then a question popped into his mind.

     “Wait, wouldn’t the parents usually come pick her up at this time…?” He asked, curious. The nurse gave him a sad look.

     “Yes, usually. But… you see, _____’s parents couldn’t care less about her. Yes, they get her everything she needs, and anything she asks for, but they ignore her, and give their attention to her younger sister. So, when she does wake up, I suggest you should take her back to your house, and keep here there until she gets better. It’s nice to see her have a friend for once.” The nurse shot Emil a sad smile.

     “Okay… but how do you know so much about her?”

     “She’s a regular here. Her physical health isn’t at top peak because she doesn’t take care of herself. After a few visits, you could say we became best friends. Yes, there is a 7 year gap between us, but she’s a nice girl who needed a friend, and I was more than happy to be that for her.” The nurse smiled.

     Emil nodded. “Alright. Thank you, for telling me this. I’ve only known her for a few weeks, and she didn’t tell me anything…”

     “Yeah, I know. She wanted to tell you, she just didn’t want you to think of her any different. She was too scared of losing you. She likes you, you know. As in more than a friend.” The nurse winked at Emil, and he looked away, his cheeks turning pink.

     “Anyways, I’ll let her tell you the rest of her story sometime. See you around, Emil.” The nurse waved at him before she left the room. Emil put his hand up in farewell, and then turned back to you. You looked so pale and still. Lifting up his hand, he slowly moved it towards your hand. But before he could grasp your hand, there was a knock on the door. Turning around, Emil saw Gilbert, Mathias, and Alfred, all carrying his and your stuff. Walking in, they placed everything on the floor, and then turned to face you and Emil.

     “How is she?” Alfred asked surprisingly soft, concern written all over his face.

     “She’ll be okay. She passed out from the pain in her knee and exhaustion. She just needs to rest.” Emil explained.

     “Good. We all agreed that we feel bad for not noticing.” Mathias said, glancing at Gilbert and Alfred, who both nodded in agreement.

     “Same here.” Emil said, glancing at your still face.

     “Vell, ve hope zhe frau gets better. Are you going to stay vith her?” Gilbert asked.

     “Yeah, I will. Thanks for your concern, guys. I’ll tell her you dropped by when she wakes up.” Emil gave them a small smile, which they returned.

     “Well, we’ll see you later Emil. You did good, by the way. Also tell her she did a great job.” Alfred said before turning around. They all nodded in agreement, and then muttered their goodbyes before disappearing into the school hallways. Turning back to you, Emil sighed as he gently grasped your small hand with his bigger one, giving it a soft squeeze. Placing his arms on the bed, and then his head in his arms, he closed his eyes, hoping you would wake up sometime soon.

~~~~~~

     As you opened your eyes, you quickly shut them, the light blinding you and worsening your headache you were just starting to feel. You were also aware of how badly your knee hurt, though it was numb. Groaning, you brought your hand up to rub your forehead.

     Emil, hearing you groan, quickly looked up to see that you were awake. Standing up, he stood over you. As you took your hand from your forehead, you looked up to see Emil standing over you, searching your eyes.

     “How do you feel?” Emil asked, his brow furrowed in worry. You groaned as you closed your eyes.

     “Not so great… my head hurts…” You mumbled.

     “Let me find some medicine.” Emil said before turning around to search the cabinets. After finding some Ibuprofen and Tylenol, he filled a cup up with water. Placing the items on the counter next to you, he helped you up into a sitting position. Once you were sitting up, he handed you the Ibuprofen and Tylenol, and then the water. Slowly, you swallowed the pills. Handing the cup back to Emil, you scooted down so you could lie down again. As you started to think about how you would get home, you soon stopped since it hurt so much to think. But Emil apparently is a mind reader, because he then said, “Once you think you’re well enough to walk, I’ll take you to my place, and you can stay there for a while. It’s just me and my older brother, Lukas, so the house is pretty empty. Alright?” He said, violet eyes staring into (e/c). You blinked a few times.

     “Sure. Thanks.” You smiled tiredly at him, and he smiled back. “But why…?” You asked, confused as to why he would offer this to you.

     He looked away. “Well, the nurse told me some things about you… about how your parents couldn’t care less about you, and how you apparently come here often because you don’t take care of yourself.” He said. With every word, your heart sunk further and further into darkness. Great. Now what does he think of you? He probably thinks you’re just a depressed loner who isn’t worth anyone’s time.

     “But don’t worry.” He said. You turned to look at him, and saw that he was smiling. “I don’t think of you any less. You’re still _____, my best friend…” He trailed off at the ‘best friend’ part, as if wanted to say more.

     “Also, please don’t do that to yourself again. If your knee hurt that bad, and if you were that exhausted, you should have called a break. Everyone would have understood. Plus, I was worried sick about you…” He trailed off again. Sighing in frustration, Emil lifted his gaze to look into your eyes. “Please just don’t do that to yourself again. And please take better care of yourself, because you deserve better than that. And… Ég elska þig. I mean, wait, darn it, Emil, she doesn’t know Icelandic.” Sighing again, he turned back to you. “I love you. So, please…” Emil leaned down and kissed your forehead. “Don’t feel like you are never good enough.”

     You didn’t realize you were crying until you felt the salty tears stream down your cheeks. Quickly sitting up, you wrapped your arms around Emil’s neck, holding onto him as tight as you could. And you just cried. You cried all of the feelings that you had built up inside yourself, all of the loneliness that had become your only companion, all of the anger and depression, everything. Emil wrapped his arms tightly around your waist, and even let a few tears slip down his cheeks.

      After what seemed like forever, you calmed down, and loosened your grip on Emil so you could look into his beautiful violet eyes.

     “Thank you, Emil… Thank you for thinking I am worth something. And, I love you too, just so you know.” You said, smiling a teary smile at him. He smiled back, and then leaned his forehead against yours. “Of course, _____. You’re worth everything to me.” He then leaned in, and placed his lips on yours. Even though it was pretty sloppy since you two had been crying, it was still magical. Both of your lips moved in perfect sync with each other, making it pure bliss. As the need for this stupid particle called “oxygen” became too great, you both broke away, panting slightly.

     “Ready to go home?” Emil asked, a smile gracing his lips.

     You smiled back. “Yep.”