RT Sports: Part I Epilogue (Patreon)

This is a Patreon-exclusive epilogue to Part One of my RT Sports series, found here. It is recommended you read that before you read this!

It had been six months since Rob Gronkowski had visited the Achievement Hunter offices to play a game of Madden 20 with them and he still hadn’t left. That wasn’t out of choice, of course, more so than necessity considering that day had culminated in an encounter causing him to switch bodies with Gavin Free, an annoying British stringbean of a guy who had been cold and standoffish towards Gronk the whole day. 

Now, none of the guys at Achievement Hunter were particularly up to Gronk’s standard considering he had been a six-foot-five musclebound football player and they were all dorky gamers with either dadbods or stick-like limbs, but out of everyone Gavin had to be the worst possible candidate for Gronk to have switched with. The other didn’t even know the first thing about football, for crying out loud, and just a quick observation had established that he was horrifically awkward and hardly in control of how he moved his body at the best of times. The absolute worst thing about the swap though was that Gronk had inherited Gavin’s speaking patterns and ridiculous accent and, with every passing day, was even beginning to think like he presumed Gavin formerly had. He was able to cling onto his love of football at the very least, but he’d also found himself getting wrapped up in long gaming sessions playing Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing - the kind of games he never would have thought twice about previously rather than the sports games he loved so much, and was even starting to subconsciously pay attention to British politics. What the hell was up with that?

Easily the most redeemable part of the swap though was that Gavin had somehow managed to score himself a girlfriend that was way out of his league! Meg was a total stunner of a girl and all of Gronk’s best moments since the swap had been with her either under the sheets or on any flat surface they could find in their house. The former football player figured it was fair game considering there was no way Gavin wasn’t doing the same now that he himself had a way hotter body. Of course, during the brief text conversations between the two of them they both denied it but Gronk knew the truth. Chicks had never been able to resist that hot body of his with all of its size and muscle so of course a guy like Gavin who had always been physically unremarkable was going to be overwhelmed with all of the possibilities he had available to him now that he was a bonafide stud! While at first it had made Gronk feel uneasy to think about what the British nerd was doing in his body those anxieties had relaxed over time, particularly helped by his own new sexual relationship with Gavin’s girlfriend, who had complimented him on being more dominant in the bedroom.

The text conversations he had been having with Gavin since their exchange had eventually started to dwindle as the weeks became months and no reason nor solution presented itself for what had caused their swap in the first place. The announcement that ‘Rob Gronkowski’ was being traded from the New England Patriots to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had prompted the real - or former, it was getting confusing to differentiate - Gronk to send a furious string of messages to his old cell phone number because how dare Gavin make such huge decisions about his life without consulting him first! His text tirade had been followed up by a short phone call in which Gavin had made it clear that he was trying to do what was best for business and perhaps while they had no idea how long it would take for them to switch back, perhaps Gronk shouldn’t be interfering in his matters. The former football player hadn’t agreed with that in the slightest but the other had been so firm in his expression that there was no room left for him to argue and although he continued to sulk for a few weeks he held in his anger towards the other until it had dissipated entirely and he came to the bewildering conclusion that Gavin really had actually made the best choice for him.

Despite that realisation, conversation between the two of them since then - even over text - had been less frequent and whenever Gavin did reply it was usually nothing more than a “k bro” or “sure whatev u say”. Soon Gronk was left to wonder why he even still bothered when it was clear that the other man wasn’t exactly opening up to him. He’s probably just busy with training camp, he assured himself while absent-mindedly clearing his Animal Crossing island of weeds, First season as a pro footballer, he’s probably real bloody nervous. I can’t believe what I’m saying... Even in his own thoughts the Britishisms didn’t stop but after several months of them they no longer bothered him quite as much as they initially had. He knew that was probably a bad sign but getting anxious over a situation out of his control had never been his style even back in his own body. Just as they’d said on that very first day, they just had to ride it out for as long as it lasted.

One of the only moments of normalcy Gronk still got was on his lunch breaks at the Achievement Hunter offices where he and Jeremy head outside to throw some ball. They’d even convinced Ryan to join them on the occasion and even though he’d been reluctant and even kinda crappy at first, that was starting to change and he was making some seriously awesome catches. Gavin’s body didn’t have quite the coordination that Gronk was used to but he retained enough of himself to know how to pass and receive a football like a professional player and he figured that as long as he didn’t let himself forget that, he’d still be holding onto a piece of himself. Besides, with how stressful filming days could get, escaping outside to do a little physical activity was a much needed respite. The little bits of baby-fat on Gavin’s body had even been worked off and although there wasn’t a chance in hell of him ever putting much size on, Gronk was at least happy that he’d managed to tone up the Brit’s body a little bit.

“What’s got you up in your head, Free?” Meg’s soft voice pulled the former football player out of his thoughts and back into reality: he was sat on the sofa of the house Gavin and Meg shared, Gavin’s girlfriend cuddled up to his side and his eyes locked on the television screen where he watched his former body answer mundane questions from an interviewer. Gronk had always hated interviews - he’d make sure to get a few shots down before having to do press just to make it a little more fun and the wild grin he saw on the screen suggested that Gavin had probably adopted that ritual too. “You good?” 

Pulling his gaze away from the screen, Gronk instead glanced at the beautiful woman beside him and felt a flush of affection inside him. It wasn’t enough for him to say he was merely content with the situation, he was actively beginning to accept it as his new path in life. The way back sure as hell hadn’t made itself clear and truthfully he didn’t even hate it all that much. Playing video games all day and getting to be silly with a bunch of like-minded dorks without the ridiculous pressure of top-level sporting competition was actually pretty awesome. As crazy as it was to admit it, in a way he was willing to let his past as Rob Gronkowski go and truly live in the present as Gavin Free. After pressing a soft kiss to the forehead of his beautiful girlfriend, Gavin finally gave his reply: “Better than ever, actually.”