~~Third POV~~

Marvin stood on the sideline, still catching his breath from the last drill. His legs felt like lead, and he could barely stand. The brutal sprints had taken a toll on him, and he wasn't sure how much more he could handle. But he couldn't afford to show weakness, not now.

"Alright, listen up!" Coach Hartman's voice cut through the chatter. "We're moving on to a new drill. We're going to run some deep routes. Quarterbacks, you're going to throw fades, posts, and go routes. Receivers, I want you to work on getting separation and making the catch. Defense, tighten up and make it tough for them."

Marvin took a deep breath and lined up with the other quarterbacks. He watched as the first receiver took off down the field, with Wilson launching a high-arching pass. The receiver adjusted and made a diving catch, drawing cheers from the rest of the team.

"Good job, let's keep that energy up!" Coach Hartman called out. "Next up!"

Marvin stepped forward, trying to shake off the fatigue. His turn came quickly. He took the snap, dropped back, and watched as Justin Collins sprinted down the field on a go route. Marvin planted his foot and launched the ball as far as he could, aiming to lead Ethan perfectly.

The ball sailed through the air, spiraling tightly. Ethan tracked it, adjusting his route slightly before extending his arms. The ball landed perfectly in his hands, and Ethan secured it as he crossed into the end zone.

"Nice throw, Marvin!" Coach Hartman shouted. "That's what I want to see!"

Marvin felt a surge of pride. His body might be exhausted, but his arm was still reliable. He took a step back, letting Danny take his turn. The drill continued, with each quarterback getting a chance to throw deep passes. Marvin's arm began to ache, but he pushed through, determined to show his worth.

After several more reps, Coach Hartman called them all in. "Good work, everyone. Now we're going to switch it up. Receivers, you'll be running post routes. Quarterbacks, I want you to hit them in stride. Defense, stick with them, and make those throws difficult."

Marvin nodded, taking his position. He watched as Caleb lined up to run the first post route. Caleb was fast, and Marvin knew he had to time his throw perfectly. At the snap, Caleb sprinted forward, cutting sharply at the fifteen-yard mark. Marvin released the ball just as Caleb made his cut, aiming for the middle of the field.

The ball flew true, and Caleb adjusted his stride to catch it in motion. He turned upfield, gaining extra yards before being tagged down.

"Nice job, Marvin!" Caleb called out as he jogged back.

Marvin gave a small nod, focusing on the next play. The drill continued, each quarterback taking turns. By the time it was over, Marvin was thoroughly spent. His arm ached, and his legs felt like they were made of concrete.

"Alright, bring it in!" Coach Hartman called out. The team gathered around, sweaty and exhausted but also feeling a sense of accomplishment.

"You feel how your muscles are aching," Coach Hartman said. "You boys need to understand that this is a team, you guys are one, if there's anybody you should respect in this school it's the guys next to you right now. Tomorrow we'll be doing lift maxes, so bring shoes to lift with."

"Stallions on three...One... Two...Three...Stallions" Coach Hartman dismissed the team.

Marvin trudged off the field, his body aching. He headed for the locker room, dreading the stairs he had to climb to get to the showers. Caleb fell in step beside him, still annoyingly energetic, Adam was also with Caleb but he didn't seem to have as much energy as Caleb.

"You did great out there, man," Caleb said, clapping Marvin on the back. "You've got a hell of an arm."

"Yeah, you didn't throw a terrible ball all day, if you get your fitness up, you'd probably get to start" Adam added in, he pointed out how terrible Marvin looked through conditioning and later in practice.

"Thanks," Marvin mumbled, not really wanting to engage in conversation.

Caleb didn't seem to notice. "Seriously, you're gonna be a real asset to this team. Just gotta keep pushing, you know?"

Marvin nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He was just getting used to this type of encouragement from people like Austin but he still wasn't sure how to respond. For now, he focused on putting one foot in front of the other, determined to make it to the showers without collapsing.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

In the locker room, Marvin peeled off his sweat-soaked jersey and collapsed onto the bench. His whole body felt like it was on fire. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the noise of his teammates talking and laughing. He just needed a moment to gather his strength.

"Fuck me" Marvin mumbled under his breath as he stretched out his limbs. He remembered how badly his muscles had hurt after the last practice but this time was even worse, he could barely lift his arm, every muscle from his shoulder down took too much effort to lift.

"Hey, you okay?" Caleb's voice broke through his thoughts.

Marvin opened his eyes to see Caleb standing before him, with a concerned look. "Yeah, I'm okay," Marvin said, sounding nonchalant. He could see the concerned look on Caleb's face and right now he couldn't deal with an overly concerned Caleb.

Caleb nodded. "Look man, today was brutal. But you did good, really. Just gotta keep at it."

Marvin sighed, he knew Caleb had good intentions but right now he was completely drained and could barely think, still, he managed a small. "Thanks."

Caleb grinned. "No problem. We're a team, right?"

Marvin wasn't so sure about that. He'd never really felt like part of a team before. He had also thought of this as he was heading to practice, did he want to be part of a team, could he even be part of the team. Marvin nodded though, still unsure of whether he agreed with what he was doing "Yeah, we're a team."

As Marvin headed to the showers, he couldn't shake the feeling that things were starting to change. Maybe Caleb was right, maybe he could find his place here, not just as a player but as part of a team.

It was a daunting thought, but for the first time in a long while, Marvin didn't think it was impossible for him to be part of something, maybe it was the couple weeks of constant chatter from Austin, or tiredness and soreness. But there was a spark of hope that hadn't been there before.

The water from the shower was hot and soothing, washing away the sweat and grime of practice. Marvin let it cascade over him, trying to relax his tense muscles. Looking back on how he practiced, Marvin knew he had a long way to go, but today was a good start. He could build on this, keep pushing himself to improve.

After his shower, Marvin dressed slowly, savoring the relief that came from being clean and somewhat refreshed. He grabbed his gear and headed out of the locker room, the late evening sun casting long shadows across the field. As he stepped outside, he took a deep breath, feeling a mix of exhaustion and satisfaction.

"Marvin, wait up!" Coach Hartman's voice called out from behind him.

Marvin turned to see the coach jogging over, a rare smile on his face. "I wanted to tell you personally that you did an excellent job today. Keep working hard, and you'll be a key player for us."

"Thanks, Coach," Marvin replied, he could feel a bit of pride swell in him. It meant a lot coming from Hartman, who had been tough throughout the entire practice session.

"Wow, didn't think you and Hartman would be talking so much with one another" Joel joked as he saw the talk Marvin had when he came outside of the locker room.

Joel had expected Marvin to just nonchalantly shrug at Hartman's compliment after all, Marvin had been living in his house for a good couple of weeks now, but he wasn't interacting much with everyone in the house except for Austin. Austin was just forcing himself on Marvin.

Marvin's face returned back to its usual black state, something Joel laughed at as the both of them headed to the car and began their journey home.

"How would you rate your day on a scale of one to ten?" Joel asked, he wanted to see how Marvin felt about the school, he wanted Marvin to have had a pleasant day and hopefully meet some children around his age.

"Five" Marvin said. He really wanted to say a two, he couldn't stand the constant socializing he had to go through today, but he knew that Joel would be more worried if he had said the truth.

"Five, wow I was expecting you'd say something like a two, I know you don't like meeting new people and stuff like that." Joel surprised Marvin with what he said, Marvin wasn't expecting Joel to start having this level of understanding about him.

"Hey, you good?" Joel asked as he saw Marvin's eyes closing and his body drooping to the side through the rearview mirror.

"Tired" Marvin replied shortly, he shut his eyes even tighter, trying to gain back any bit of extra energy he could. Joel saw Marvin return back to his sleep and decided not to disturb him, driving as smoothly as he could to the house.

~~Austin POV~~

"BROOOKEE WHERE'S THE REMOTE?" I had to scream to get Brooke to even acknowledge my voice, she had taken the remote after her cheesy romance show ended. I don't understand how someone can even like those.

"Austin, Lower that voice right now" Mom called out from her office, she was currently working on a contract for one of her clients, I think he's a pop singer or something like that. Anyway, I didn't yell anymore, I had already learned from the past times I had disturbed Mom during work.

*DING* The doorbell rang, that had to be Dad and Marvin. I made my way over to the door to open it, I couldn't wait to ask Marvin how high school was, Brooke didn't tell me anything about her day. 'All the guys at school say that in high school you get to do all the cool shit'

I opened the door, and let Dad and Marvin in. Marvin looked like he was about to collapse at the door, before I could even get a word out, he had already made his way to his room.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked Dad, what could have made him look so miserable. 'Was his day that bad?' I wondered, maybe he got into a fight with someone at school.

"Long day for him. You shower yet?" Dad answered my question but immediately switched to asking his own. I didn't even answer his question, I knew he knew what the answer was. I wasn't gonna let him get the satisfaction of making me go shower though, I would do it of my own will.

"When coming down, get your sister. I'll have dinner going by then" Dad said as I went upstairs.