october 31st, 2022
the bengals lost to the browns today, and marley was currently waiting for joe to finish his press conference before she did hers.
she just started doing them again, since they haven't been so pressed about her being a coach now.
maybe they actually cared, or maybe it was because they wanted them from zach and joe and this is what it took for them to receive that.
"so, marley." the news reporter said. "the bengals took a pretty hard loss to the browns, specifically, defensively."
"i think a loss doesn't fall on anyone in particular, you win together, you lose together." marley said.
"defense allowed 32 points, that's a lot compared to the 13 points that offense scored." another reporter said. "do you think it has anything to do with your budding romance with defensive end, sam hubbard?"
marley tried to keep calm knowing this was a live interview. "where did you get that from?" marley asked.
"a picture came out, of you and sam pretty cozy together at dinner, holding hands leaving the restaurant, kissing, the whole thing." a reporter said.
marley felt her chest get tight. "excuse me." she blurted out before standing up and leaving the room.
a panic attack is like a fire. you think you have it under control, like you can stop it whenever you want. but before you know it, it's a living and breathing monster that you can't control.
it makes you feel stupid for feeling like you were able to control it in the first place.
it also feels like a fire. your chest is on fire, but also caving in at the same time. it feels like smoke is filling your lungs and you can't breath.
she didn't know where to go, she just needed to be away. she didn't know where she was going, this wasn't paycour.
she sat down in a chair in this random hallway, she was trying to catch her breath but couldn't.
"are you ok?" a player asked, walking over to marley. "coach marley, right?" he asked, marley nodded gripping her chest.
"i'm jacoby brissett." he said. "i'll be right back." he said running off.
jacoby ran to the bengals locker room. "you shouldn't be in here." zach said.
"something's wrong with coach marley, i think she's having a panic attack. i don't know what's going on." jacoby said frantically.
"where is she?" sam asked. jacoby motioned for sam to follow him.
jacoby led him to where marley was. "thank you, jacoby." sam said before the quarterback went away.
"marley," sam said squatting down to her level. "i'm here, ok? it's going to be fine. i need you to take deep breaths for me."
marley shook her head. "it hurts, i can't." she said the tears were streaming down her face. "they know sam, they know. they brought it up and i," she said.
"hey, calm down first then you can tell me what happened ok?" sam said softly. "take a deep breath with me ok?"
marley took a deep breath. "good, mar. a couple more." sam said. they took another deep breath together.
she started to calm down. "one more." sam said, they did one more.
"okay, what happened?" sam asked.
"they know about us." marley said. "they said there was these pictures of us when we went on that date last week."
"okay," sam said. "we'll figure out. we'll get through it together. everything going to be fine. we'll be alright." he said. he was convincing himself while convincing marley at the same time.
"we have to tell the guys first." sam said. "come on." he said extending his hand for marley to take.
"i have to thank jacoby." marley said. they walked to the browns locker room, jacoby came out.
"thank you, jacoby." marley said, giving the player a hug.
"no problem, you doin ok?" he asked. marley nodded. "also, congratulations." he said.
"news spreads that fast?" marley asked.
"yeah, i'm sorry." jacoby said.
they parted ways and the pair walked back to the bengals locker room. when they walked in, all eyes were on them.
their faces had unreadable expressions. "marley, are you ok?" zach asked, walking over to the girl.
"yeah, i'm good." marley said, sending him a small smile.
"do you guys know already?" marley asked. she couldn't look at any of them at the moment.
they all nodded. "you both can act professionally in a work setting, obviously since we didn't even know about it, i have no problem with it." zach said.
a weight was lifted off of marley's as they all congratulated the pair. "i'm killing those reporters, i swear to god." tee said.
"i can't use my rizz on you anymore." jamar said wiping his fake tears. "that's why it never worked on you!" a switch flipped in his brain.
"i have better rizz than you, jamar. what can i say." sam said jokingly.
"dude." trey said dabbing up sam. "i'm gonna be the best man at the wedding right?"
"obviously." sam replied. marley didn't hear them, she was in a conversation with jamar about rizz.
"i'll be back, i'm going to go give these reporters a piece of my mind." sam said to marley.
"sam, be respectful." marley said to him.
"i'll try. but i'm not making any promises." he replied earning an eye roll from marley before he left.
the reporters were shocked to find sam sitting there. "i'm coming in here to say, yes. marley and i are dating." he said.
"big freaking deal. get over yourselves and stop asking personal questions. marley has worked so hard to get here, and deserves to be here. so you all bombarding her with questions like this is plainly disrespectful." sam said. "i love her very much and the way you all treat her is beyond disrespectful."
sam didn't have anything else to say, so he left the room. he felt satisfied about what he said, although he wished he didn't have to use as much respect as he did.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
the cats out of the bag!!
YOU ARE READING
assistant coach • sam hubbard
Fanfictionin which marley brown quickly falls in love with the charming defensive end, sam hubbard. well, maybe she already has been in love, maybe she is just coming to her sense. with her being his coach, this couldn't be your causal love story. it is a lot...
