Home Run

14| Salted Wounds

It was easy to handle the potato sack race with Trevor. All we had to do was yell go, and give the winner a prize. Isaac and Veronica were in charge of the three-legged race. One of the kids playing their game got hurt.

I glanced at my watch. We had thirty minutes left until we could go. Things started dying down an hour ago because it was nearing dinner time. No one came to our game because the kids were eating food served from food trucks the school hired to cater the event.

I sat on the field as I admired the simplicity of these children's lives. I missed the days where I had no major problems besides losing my favourite pencil crayon. I believed that as people grow older, they tend to overcomplicate simple things. I wish I could see my life through a kid's eyes.

I looked back up to see Trevor on one knee talking to a crying boy. I got up from the grass, and I realized that there was a grass stain on my new white capris.

"Did this rude boy make you cry?" I asked the little kid as I put my hand on his shoulder. Trevor instantly gave me a glare.

"No," the boy sniffled. "He's really nice. Trevor's helping me find my mommy."

"Okay bud let's go," Trevor put his hand on the kid's back as Trevor lead him to the school. "I'll be back Nutty. Don't go crazy without me."

I watched them in awe as they walked away from me. I was surprised Trevor was good with kids. It made him even more attractive. I admit, he's gifted physically, but I will never tell him that.

"Boyfriend ditched you?" Isaac slung his arm across my shoulder as he looked at Trevor. "What do they call that again? Pedophilia."

"You're disgusting," I pushed his arm away. I took a step away from him. "Trevor's helping the kid look for his mom, something you'll never do because you're a self-absorbed-"

"Hey, hey, you don't need to get all aggressive on me. I'm just here to talk to you."

"Sure you are," I rolled my eyes.

In the beginning, I felt bad for breaking up with Isaac. Now, I was fed up with dealing with him. He doesn't understand that I don't want to be around him anymore. I was open to having a friendship with him, but when Trevor revealed the real reason as to why Isaac dated me the first place, it hit my last nerve.

"I can already see it, Natalia, your heart's only going to get more broken than it already is," he sighed as he began to walk away.

"Nice talk," I murmured under my breath. Isaac wasn't right, hell, I'm not even going to allow the mere possibility of my heart getting broken from this arranged relationship.

•••

After bouncing on the bouncy castle for the past ten minutes, we finally relaxed as we lay down on the castle. It was the end of the event, and the crowd was slowly leaving. We had no obligation to the potato sack race station.

Trevor was telling me the story of the lost boy. They eventually found his mother who was at the front of the school yelling through the phone while she smoked a cigarette. Trevor explained that the boy told him his parents fought a lot. Trevor said the boy seemed unfazed about it, but I knew deep down that in the future his parents fighting will affect him in a big way.

Maybe I was wrong earlier. Maybe children don't have it easier. Maybe children are much happier because they haven't been hurt by the world yet. So they live their life with their heart in the lead until they do.

"How are you doing?" I asked Trevor. The events from last night weren't brought up during the entirety of the event. 

"So tired," he adjusted his position, placing his hands under his head.

"I mean, after what Veronica said last night, how are you?" I asked.

He closed his eyes, "I was alright before. In fact, I was getting better. I was starting to get over her, but knowing that she doesn't love me as much as I did. It fucking hurts. It fucking hurts to be the only one hurting."

I scootched closer to him, "I get it, but think about it like this. The hard part is over now. The truth is out, and how you're going to handle your life after you found out about the truth is up to you. You're in charge whether you want to go forward happy or sad. I'm not trying to make you feel better. I'm not going to sugar coat it, it's painful I know. But I do want you to realize that this heartbreak may feel like it's going to last a lifetime, maybe it will, but it doesn't mean you can't be happy."

He inhaled deeply. His eyes were still closed; Trevor looked angelic with his eyes closed, his long dark lashes rested against his skin. And oh how it looked divine. His angelic looks could make any angel sin.

"What Veronica said last night, it was like opening up old wounds that were starting to close and heal. But then, she opened them and rubbed salt in the wounds."

Nothing hurts more than seeing people you care about get hurt and not have any ability to make it go away completely. I may not have the power to do so, but this fact isn't going to stop me from trying to take a sliver of the pain away.

I slowly leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I know I can't make the hurt go away, but I promise I'll be here."

The sun was beginning to set, and the teachers who organized the event started barking out orders to the other volunteers. As long as they didn't call us to help them, we were stuck at this moment together.

a/n another sad chapter I know :( You get to see another side of Trevor and Natalia. Tbh out of all the couples on the sporty sweethearts, they're my favourite.

Who's your favourite?