Five Times: Alan/Darren
Title: Five Times Alan Remembered Darren
Pairing: Alan Smith/Darren Fletcher
Rating: G
Author's Notes: I have none. Just this took me about an hour to write and it might show.
1. Sometimes, Alan lay awake in the middle of the night and listened to Mark's (Michael's? John’s? He had given up on bothering to remember the names of his bed partners for the night) steady breathing. In those moments, he wondered if he had made the right decision when he had decided to move away from United. He wasn't one to regret - what was done, was done - but sometimes he wished nevertheless that he had taken another turn, or could turn back the clocks to do so. Decide not to jump up to meet that free kick against Liverpool, for instance. And sometimes, he remembered Darren. Darren never seemed to worry about decisions. Alan fully trusted him to simply close his eyes and point at a random path, and then to follow that path without ever questioning his choice. Sometimes, Alan envied Darren.
2. Sometimes, Alan’s phone rang, and although it sounded no different to all the other times, there was this air of certainty that it was Darren calling. It never was. Usually, it was one of his mates at the club asking if he wanted to go out sometime, or his brother telling him that there was a motocross event of some sort in the Newcastle area. When he pressed the red button, Alan sometimes remembered how Darren used to call him, in the middle of the night - and how he had picked up the phone in considerable alarm, thinking that something was wrong, only to hear that Darren couldn’t get on to the next level in ‘Zelda’.
3. Sometimes, Alan cleaned his apartment, and although they were always sure that nothing was left behind, he always found something that belonged to Darren. It could be a shirt or some Scottish newspaper Darren had bought at the station - one day, Alan found one with a half-finished crossword puzzle, some of the boxes filled in big, bold letters, as if Darren hoped to cover up his spelling mistakes by it (or simply wasn’t aware of them). For “Monster, supposedly living in Scotland” (six letters, last ones i and e) Darren had put “Fergie”. The crossword puzzle stayed in Alan’s drawer.
4. Sometimes, Alan ran towards the goal in a training session’s five-a-side, the ball at his feet, defenders far behind and just the goalkeeper to beat. When he could feel the wind in his face, the blood rushing in his veins, he remembered the match against Roma. Remembered the goal, the cheering crowd, the smell of Old Trafford’s grass when Darren tackled him to the ground by the corner flag. Remembered the stolen kiss in the security of the heap their teammates had formed, a hand squeezing his own - back then, the night had been full of promises.
5. Alan remembered Darren all the time.
Pairing: Alan Smith/Darren Fletcher
Rating: G
Author's Notes: I have none. Just this took me about an hour to write and it might show.
1. Sometimes, Alan lay awake in the middle of the night and listened to Mark's (Michael's? John’s? He had given up on bothering to remember the names of his bed partners for the night) steady breathing. In those moments, he wondered if he had made the right decision when he had decided to move away from United. He wasn't one to regret - what was done, was done - but sometimes he wished nevertheless that he had taken another turn, or could turn back the clocks to do so. Decide not to jump up to meet that free kick against Liverpool, for instance. And sometimes, he remembered Darren. Darren never seemed to worry about decisions. Alan fully trusted him to simply close his eyes and point at a random path, and then to follow that path without ever questioning his choice. Sometimes, Alan envied Darren.
2. Sometimes, Alan’s phone rang, and although it sounded no different to all the other times, there was this air of certainty that it was Darren calling. It never was. Usually, it was one of his mates at the club asking if he wanted to go out sometime, or his brother telling him that there was a motocross event of some sort in the Newcastle area. When he pressed the red button, Alan sometimes remembered how Darren used to call him, in the middle of the night - and how he had picked up the phone in considerable alarm, thinking that something was wrong, only to hear that Darren couldn’t get on to the next level in ‘Zelda’.
3. Sometimes, Alan cleaned his apartment, and although they were always sure that nothing was left behind, he always found something that belonged to Darren. It could be a shirt or some Scottish newspaper Darren had bought at the station - one day, Alan found one with a half-finished crossword puzzle, some of the boxes filled in big, bold letters, as if Darren hoped to cover up his spelling mistakes by it (or simply wasn’t aware of them). For “Monster, supposedly living in Scotland” (six letters, last ones i and e) Darren had put “Fergie”. The crossword puzzle stayed in Alan’s drawer.
4. Sometimes, Alan ran towards the goal in a training session’s five-a-side, the ball at his feet, defenders far behind and just the goalkeeper to beat. When he could feel the wind in his face, the blood rushing in his veins, he remembered the match against Roma. Remembered the goal, the cheering crowd, the smell of Old Trafford’s grass when Darren tackled him to the ground by the corner flag. Remembered the stolen kiss in the security of the heap their teammates had formed, a hand squeezing his own - back then, the night had been full of promises.
5. Alan remembered Darren all the time.