𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 ☆ ᴛ. ᴛᴜʀɴᴇʀ

𝟐𝟕. 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬

"i'm baaaackkk!" the blonde yelled as she barged into the clubhouse before their game.

"ness!"

"nessy!"

"hi!"

"hello my animals. did you miss me?" she asked.

"endlessly," chris said, buttoning his jersey.

"aww thanks!" she said with a smile.

"well your in a good mood." will pointed out.

"i'm just glad i a have a job, thank you very much." vanessa snarked back. she walked over to trea who was furiously looking through his backpack. "what are you looking for?" she asked the shortstop, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"my gloves. i brought them home to wash them, but i can't fucking find them." he told her, obviously pissed off.

"are you sure you put them in your bag?" vanessa questioned.

"of course i did, why wouldn't i have?" trea said.

"okay well, you can often be forgetful, so you can drop the attitude, sir." she picked up her head and turned to look at the rest of the boys in the room as trea scoffed. she opened her mouth in shock and jabbed her thumbs at the boy. cody shrugged, as he didn't know why trea was in such a mood.

she stepped away from the boy, continuing to give him a glare. instead, she headed over to mookie and cody, who were in a much better mood. "glad to have you back," mookie said, tipping his hat at the manager.

"why thank you mookie." she answered, giving a slight bow.

"ready to be back to work?" cody asked.

"oh, you know it." she replied with a smile. "was it terrible without me yesterday?"

"it was horrendous." mookie told her.

dave barged into the clubhouse, with the lineup sheet. "we're running late today so let's get a move on!" he said, then proceeding to read the list of names off of the paper. "as soon as you're ready i want you out in the dugout!"

most of the players flocked out of the clubhouse as they noticed dave seemed to be on a bit more edge than normal. as vanessa was about to head out with the rest of the group, mookie grabbed her arm and signaled to the hallway. she checked behind her to watch the boys leave and followed mookie into the hall.

"what's up mook?"

"okay. trea called me last night, at like 12:30." mookie said. "he was like acting weird all day but we figured it was just because you weren't here."

"it wasn't?" she asked.

"well it was." he continued. "but he was borderline crying when he called me."

vanessa frowned at the comment. "oh no."

"he felt so terrible for you. and he was all like 'oh i'm an asshole because i got pissed at her when she was just trying to help herself the best she could' and all that stuff." mookie said, " it all hit him at once."

"trea," she said, taking a deep breath.

"he was so upset with himself. i think it really bothered him that you weren't here. i don't think he wanted to imagine what baseball was without you." mookie said. "and obviously we were all sad without you but i guess we never considered how he felt."

"what did you guys do it him?"

"well he was like pissed all day and wouldn't talk to anyone. we all just thought he was annoyed you were back yet. he feels really guilty. especially considering he wasn't punished for anything."

"yeah well i told dave to leave him alone. i didn't want him to have to miss time because of me. you guys need him, more tha. you need me." she told him.

"that's not true."

"well i'm not the only manager here." vanessa said.

"he's really upset."

vanessa said nothing for a moment, and just stared off.

"he wanted to help you, but he had no idea how. and that really bothered him. all he could do was be with you, but he mentioned you were busy the past few days."

"mookie?"

"yes?"

"am i a terrible person if i was avoiding him?"

"no." he said, "why were you avoiding him?"

"because i couldn't bear to see him. i know how much he hurt for me, i didn't want to face him."

"ness," mookie frowned. he hugged her. her head rested on his shoulder as she rested her eyes. they let go as mookie continued, "you need to talk to him."

"i know." vanessa said with a sigh.

mookie gave her one of those 'i'm serious' looks, which was uncommon for him. she nodded and pursed her lips. the two headed back to the clubhouse. the only one still in there was trea, who was slipping the gloves he couldn't find earlier into his pocket.

he watched as the two headed back into the room, "wow mookie, i love when your sneaking around with my girlfriend."

"dude." he said, putting his hands up. mookie rolled his eyes and grabbed his gloves from his locker, heading into the dugout.

"can we talk?" vanessa asked.

"mhm." he answered bluntly.

"i'm serious."

"okay, let's talk." vanessa grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the hallway. "well?" he said as she shut the door behind him.

"i'm sorry." she said after a moment, then immediately falling into his arms.

he held her as it occurred to him that mookie had told her what he said. he wanted to be mad at him, but he just couldn't. he had no energy left for anger.

"don't apologize."

"i was so selfish and i just couldn't bring myself to see you. i knew how much you were hurting. but i didn't want to help you, becuase i knew it would only hurt me more. and that was terrible. i avoided you as much as i could. and you didn't know how to help me, and the only way you knew how, i wouldn't even let you in. and i'm sorry. and i wish that you never felt guilty about all of this, because it's not for you to worry about. but of course you're going to worry and i can't expect you to not. and you don't have to feel anymore becuase i'm here now." she said, quickly. "im always going to be here. no matter what." she slowed down.

he said nothing, but just held her. that was all he could do. he didn't move as he felt her tears dampen his jersey.

"i love you so much. i love you so much, trea turner."

"i love you, vanessa carr." it was the first genuine thing he had said in the past few days.

she was the only thing he cared about. and he cared. so, so much.