Grand-Slam

∞Chapter 24∞

Song: Only Hope- Mandy Moore 

"The stars twinkled in his eyes, and the sun itself warmed his smile. I knew I might burn, but I just had to inch a little closer." -The Dreamer

"I told you not to fall in love with me." Mandy Moore, or as she's known in the movie, Jamie Sullivan, whispered to Carter.

"Just let the boy love you!" I screamed at my computer, and I practically jumped out of my skin when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure standing in my doorway. I calmed some when I realized it was Nate, standing there with a lopsided grin on his lips. "You ass! You could have knocked or acknowledged yourself!"

He shrugged. "I would have, but it was more fun watching you get all over emotional over a movie. Especially a chick flick like that."

I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest before I grumbled, "Over emotional isn't even a word, dummy."

"Says the girl who just called me a dummy." He chuckled as he laid beside me, pulling the covers over us. He kissed my temple, and then grabbed my computer. "Let's find a movie worth watching."

"A Walk to Remember is always worth watching."

"Whatever you say, love." He smirked as he scrolled through the options on Netflix, and then stopped on another movie.

"The Sandlot? Really?" I questioned, and he nodded, pressing play. "If you wanted to watch baseball, you could have just watched me!"

Nate chuckled again, and I rested my head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer. "Hey, The Sandlot is always a movie worth watching."

I smirked, and glanced up at him just as he looked down at me. "That's true. I mean, Benny Rodriguez is pretty damn hot. He's a dream."

"Hey, babe. I'm right here, you know."

"Don't be jealous that he's hotter than you." I teased, patting his chest. "Jealousy is bad for you, baby."

"Please. Me? Jealous?" He huffed, rolling his eyes, before he looked at me, a playful smirk on his lips. "Besides, I already know you think I'm smokin' hot. The way you check me out 24/7 proves it."

I playfully rolled my eyes, smiling. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Jackson."

"You in my arms would suffice, Anderson." He whispered, and heat crawled up my face as I cuddled closer to him. Nate kissed my forehead, and we watched the movie until we dozed off halfway through, in each other's arms.

***

Game day. It was time to take down Rockwood.

Once I got to the field, we immediately started warming up. We stretched, ran two laps, and practiced throwing, catching, pitching, and hitting. After half an hour of both teams warming up, it was finally time to start the game. Our team was on the field first, and I stood in my spot as pitcher. As I waited for the hitter, I glanced around the crowd, and a pair of brown eyes caught mine. He was there. He actually came and supported me. When Nate noticed I was looking at him, he smiled, and blew me a kiss. I smiled back and blew him one too before twisting the ball in my hand. With him there, I felt invincible. It was like I had everything in the palm of my hand.

The other team's starting hitter stepped into the hitter's box, and prepared herself. I took a deep breath, swung my arm back, and released the ball, watching as it soared right through the strike zone. She swung and miss, and that was strike one. The girl stepped out of the box, swinging her bat, before she stepped back in, tapping home base. When she was ready, I threw a curve ball.

"Strike two!" The ump yelled, and I smiled. One more, and I had my twenty-fifth strikeout of the season. The girl stepped out once more, and when she stepped in the ball, I threw the one pitch I kept up my sleeve for special occasions-- a knuckle ball. "Strike three! You're out!"

The stands for our team went wild, and I grinned. I struck out the next two girls, and then it was our turn to hit. Since I was the captain, I hit first, but sometimes I was clean up when we played tough teams. I stepped into the hitter's box, digging my heels into the dirt and tapping my bat on home base. Locking my eyes on the ball, I pulled my bat behind my shoulder, and the pitcher threw the ball. For a second, everything was silent, and then my bat slammed into the ball, sending the ball soaring over the infield, all the way out to outfield, and way past the outfielders.

"Go, Brooke! Go!" My teammates screamed as I ran through second, onto third, and then sild into home. The crowd went wild once again, and I jumped up, running over to the dugout. The team high fived me, and I smiled again, adrenaline running through my veins. It was going to be a good game.

At the end of the game, we had whooped Rockwood 20-1. I would have gone out with the girls to celebrate, but there was a special someone in the stands who I would have rather been with after the win.

"Great game, love." Nate exclaimed when I approached him, crashing my lips into his. After we pulled apart, he intertwined our hands and walked us to his car. He took me to Sweet Frog, and I got vanilla ice cream with Oreo's and whip cream. Nate got chocolate ice cream and M&M's. We spent an hour there, talking, laughing, and flirting, and once we were finished, we went home, and he led me to the back yard where he had a fire blazing.

"What's this for?" I asked, and Nate pulled something out of the box he had sitting by the fire.

"This," He started, pointing to the hood he held in his hands, "This is to burn the hell out of this son of a bitch."

Nate handed me Kenny's hood, and I smiled, kissing his cheek. "How did you know I wanted to burn it?"

He shrugged, smirking. "The note on top of the box that read, 'burn in hell' didn't make it obvious or anything."

I rolled my eyes, smiling. We stepped closer to the fire, and as I took a deep breath, I threw the hood into the flames. Nate wrapped his arm around my waist, and as I rested my head against his shoulder, the fire burst into huge flames. It was good revenge, and I thanked the heavens every day they gave me someone like Nate Jackson to heal my broken heart, and to teach me exactly how love felt. 

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Hey guys!

This song for the chapter since A Walk To Remember was mentioned and that is one of my favorite movies. (: 

How about that revenge on Kenny? I feel like that's something I'd do, to be honest...

Teaser: Ah, the return of Kenny. But not before another #Brate moment (;

Make sure to comment, vote, and spread the word!

Thanks for reading!

Much love, 

-Abby