Firsts & Lasts

First 'Fuck You's'.

TW: mentions of domestic abuse
Christian

I wake up to the obnoxious shaking of my leg. "Valdez, wake the fuck up now!" Rhys shout whispers. I pick up one of my pillows and throw it at him. "Go away, I had a late night, fucker." I groan. He grabs the lower part of my stomach — which makes me flinch because I'm a ticklish piece of shit — and turns me over so I'm laying on my back.

I'm about to jab him the stomach when he speaks. "Your dad is downstairs." My body reacts immediately by freezing. Rhys' blue eyes are ready to pop out of his head. "Are you serious?" I ask, praying that it's some sick joke.

"Yes." His never serious face is looking pretty damn serious right now.

I sit up quickly and I feel like someone just banged my head against the door. I got wasted as fuck last night, we all did. I groan and rub my temples with two fingers. "Hurry!" Rhys says, before rushing out of the room.

I chug the water on my nightstand and get up from bed. My hairs a mess, so I fix it quickly before making my way downstairs.

I immediately catch sight of the old, grumpy-looking man standing in the living room with his arms crossed over his chest. Dad's not that old, he's got short, brown hair that hasn't gone gray. Maybe that's just because he colors it though. He's rocking a clean shaven face and he has on the only pieces of clothing you'll see if you look through his closet.

A suit.

His eyes wander around the house, which is surprisingly super clean, until my heavy footsteps catch his attention. His cold, icey glare fixates on me. His lips are in a straight line like always. Cgc, Rhys, and Xander sit uncomfortably on the couch.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him. This is the first time he's been to mine and the guy's place. He's not someone I necessarily like inviting over and he doesn't bother coming to see me either. "Heard the big news, didn't think about telling your old man?" I see the guys heads shoot up.

Did mom tell him? Since when do they talk again? I'm not surprised if they do though. Mom's stupid. "Ah, I knew you'd find out on your own." I shrug lightly. He lets out a husky chuckle, shifting his gaze towards the door momentarily. Yes, please leave.

"I found out from Jonathan Ritchie, actually. Says he's excited to potentially have you on the team next year." What? Fuck, of course. Being a former NFL player, dad still has connections and friends from the league. "I had to pretend I knew that my own son, got called up to play in the NFL next year. How shitty is that?" He doesn't raise his voice, but I could hear the obvious annoyance in his tone.

"It's not a for sure thing. I might finish off my senior year here." I know I probably should have not said this, but I don't care. I can see the are you dumb?  look on his face. "And why would you do that?" Because I'm not like you? I want to stay.

Dad declared for the draft after three years of playing college football. He only played four years in the league before he suffered a career ending back injury. Now he miraculously tries to live through me.

"Because I've been wanting to since my first year here."

"Don't be stupid, Christian."

"I'm not."

"You'll regret it." He retorts. I was highly considering declaring for the draft after junior year but my dad wanting me to, makes me not want to anymore. If I do now, he'll think it's because of this conversation. If I'm going to declare for the draft, it's going to be because I want to.

I have never done anything for Matthew Valdez and I'm not going to start now.

"We have practice in thirty minutes, Valdez." Xander breaks my gaze from my fathers eyes. My roommates all stand up and walk to their rooms. "Well, I gotta go get ready." I finally say, wanting this conversation to be over with.