Sandlot Love

•Chapter 13-Benny's POV•

I woke up to sunlight hitting my face and a chorus of whispers. Blearily I raised my head, my friends surrounded me, staring down at me and Ash, who was sleeping soundly next to me.
"You dating her?" Ham asked, packing up his sleeping bag.
"No" I flushed "go on guys, go get started"
"What?" They gaped "us, play ball, while you're in here?!" I looked at Smalls for help and he began herding the rest of the guys outside.
"Come on, we'll let Ash sleep"
"Yeah whatever but if Benny can't be bothered to play then I say we all get a day off" there was a chorus of assent as they climbed down from the treehouse.

After they had gone I settled back down in my sleeping bag, facing Ash. I realised our hands were still clasped together but couldn't bring myself to separate them. The light hit her hair, making it glow, she looked so beautiful, I thought. After everything that had happened we'd still ended up like this, holding hands while we slept, it seemed symbolic somehow, like things could be different this time around.

"Good morning" I jerked, startled.
"Ash, you're awake. I'm sorry I didn't want to move and risk waking you" I explained hurriedly, flushed, not wanting her to think I'd been doing anything creepy while she slept.
"It's ok Benny" she smiled "so what's the plan for today?"
"Same as every day I guess, playing ball, except... well... the guys want a break and I can't force them to play so I thought maybe... if you wouldn't mind... um, giving me some pitching tips? I'll help you with your batting too, not that you need it of course" I explained nervously, I didn't want to offend her, and really it wasn't like she needed help.

"Alright sure, I'm gonna go home and get changed ok?" She agreed and I nodded, a grin spreading across my face.
"See you soon"

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Eventually Ash returned, and I made my way over to her.

"I thought, if it's ok with you that is, if we worked on my pitching first so that I can pitch to you when we're working on your batting"
"Sounds great" she said, stretching and beginning to warm up. I set myself up on the mound and pitched a few balls, I could tell I didn't have the accuracy I wanted, but I didn't know how to fix it.
"You're trying too hard, it's making you you over balance and sending the ball to the left of where you're aiming" I tried correcting for the deviation but overcompensated, my throw having no power behind it.
"Here" Ash, coming up behind me "let me move your arm how it should go" She put her hand over mine around the ball and moved my arm forward. I gulped, very conscious of Ash pressed against me, I forced myself to focus only on what she was teaching me and not the feeling of her draped over me. All I would have to do, I thought, was turn my head a little and I could kiss her. "let go around here, yes I know it's earlier than you would on a regular pitch but if you leave it any later you'll over balance. Try it again" her instructions snapped me out of it and I threw the ball, my accuracy instantly improving. We practiced pitching for a bit longer, until I was hitting the strike zone every time.
"Ok now for me" Ash said, moving into the batters box and taking up her stance, I there the ball to her, watching her swing.
"You're waiting too late to decide whether you're going to swing" I told her "you're deciding when the ball comes to you and you can't get enough power that was to hit it as far as you could"
"How do I tell earlier?" She asked, an adorable crinkle appearing on her face as she furrowed her brow, intently focused.
"You look at the pitcher, watch how they pitch and tell by their stance and where their eyes go what they're going to pitch, if it's an erratic pitcher you'll have to wait until they've thrown the ball but that's not usual" she followed my instructions, assessing my body language as I threw a variety of pitches, a mixture of strikes and balls so she could get the hang of reading the pitchers body language. I was acutely aware of her eyes on me and I tried not to blush from her fixed gaze.

"Ash!" We both looked up to see Smalls approaching us "you're having dinner at my place again and your mum wants you to come home right away" Ash groaned, masking my own sigh of disappointment.
"Sorry Benny" she apologised
"It's ok, I get that you have to go"
"Yeah but I feel bad leaving you to pick up all these balls" she waved her arm, indicating the multitude of balls that we'd hit.
"I'll be fine Ash, go home" I urged her and she complied, Smalls flashing me a grin behind her back. I smiled, shaking my head fondly at him as I began to collect the balls. It was hard to believe that a few weeks ago I wouldn't have ever thought that I'd have had his much fun training with Ash, that I would've listened to the tips she'd given me, my pride would've prevented me from changing anything, even though she was right. So much had changed since then and yet nothing had at the same time, the crush that I would've sworn I was over had come back with a vengeance and I couldn't find it in myself to mind.