Heart of Gold (Anthony Rizzo)

Twenty Nine

Anthony

As spring training rolls around I start to get excited. It'll be my first whole MLB season and I could finally do some damage. I was ready both physically and mentally but I wasn't sure if I was just ready to play or ready to go home.

After another long day at the park I head to my hotel room to relax. I call Isabella and she doesn't answer which is weird because she usually always answers. It's not like she was ever doing anything. She doesn't work and she hates leaving the house when I'm not there but who knows, she could be taking a bath or making dinner. Or she could be at the hospital... that can't be good. I call again and she doesn't answer again. I think back to our conversation yesterday to see if she said anything but all I remember was that it was weird because I could have sworn that Nicky said he had been in a car all day, but with him that could have meant he was day dreaming that he was with batman and they were in the batmobile. Who knows?

After about a hour there's a knock on my door and I sigh knowing I'm going to have to get off the couch. I get up to answer it and open the door. There stood Nicholas with Charlie by his side and the dog starts barking when he sees me.

"Anthony" he yells as I stand there completely surprised. He jumps in my arms and I easily catch him. I wrap my arms around him as I try my best not to cry.

"Oh my god I've missed you so much. You look great" I smile. He lifts up his shirt and shows me that his scar did indeed heal like a lightening strike like he's been saying this whole time.

"Look! I'm the flash" he claims.

"You can run and everything" I ask.

"Yeah! I'm super fast now" he says.

"Wow... it's so great to see you again" I admit searching his little face. I've seriously missed him so much.

"It's the eyes" he shrugs.

"Where is your sister" I ask looking around, I know he wasn't here by himself. His sister would have a cow.

"She's checking us in, I saw Starlin downstairs and he told me which room you were in" he explains.

"That's right, I think they were about to go swimming" I remember and he lights up.

"Swimming" he asks.

"Yeah, you brought your swim trunks right" I question.

"I'm wearing them" he whispers in my hair. I look down and low and behold he was.

I take him and Charlie downstairs and let him in the pool with my key. They play with some guys on the team who were just as excited to see him as I was. I go to the front desk but I don't see Isabella there and I start to frown.

"Hello, may I ask where Isabella Wilson is staying" I ask.

"Are you Anthony" he asks.

"I am" I reply.

"Well you're a very lucky guy. Here is a room key and it's to room 522" he says.

"Umm okay, thank you" I reply. That was weird.

I go up to the room and let myself in. All the lights were off and it didn't look like she was here. Maybe she went to find Nicky or something.

I go into the bedroom and look for her some more.

"Bella" I ask. The next thing I know she jumps out from behind the bed and I smile big. She jumps over it and into my arms pushing me against the wall.

"Oh my god, you are crazy" I say trying my best to stabilize us.

"I've missed you so much" she cries into my shoulder. I hug her tight remembering what it was like to hold her.

"I thought Nicky couldn't fly" I ask.

"I drove" she explains.

"It's like a 26 hour drive" I argue.

"We stopped in Oklahoma last night" she says.

"I can't believe you did this for me" I admit.

"I can't believe I was able to wait this long" she insists. I set her down and look into those bright blue eyes. Her white teeth shine in the dark room as I hold her close. I quickly press my lips to hers and I feel her smile.

"Where's Nicky" she whispers breathlessly as I start to kiss her neck.

"The pool with Charlie and some of the guys" I mumble on her skin.

"For how long" she wonders before letting out a small gasp.

"Long enough" I smirk. She falls on to the bed and I follow her as we take off our clothes. We quickly reconnect our lips as nearly a month of being apart comes together. All the pent up feelings and emotions flood out once I see her laying under me.

"Do you have a condom" she whispers and I stop.

"No" I admit.

"You know what, I don't care" she says pulling me back down. I smile as she starts to kiss my jaw pulling my body against hers.

"You sure" I ask.

"Positive" she smiles.

After that was all said and done we lay in the dark just holding each other. It quietly rained outside as the flashes of lightning illuminate her blonde hair. I move some hair out of her face as she smiles up at me. She scoots in closer as I continue to study her closely.

"Why exactly did you come out here" I wonder.

"Do you really want to know. Because I can just say it's because Nicky and I missed you and I wouldn't be lying" she tries.

"Wouldn't be telling to truth either" I defend and she sighs.

"When my dad died I vowed to never let anyone in. I lost two people I cared so deeply about witching the matter of months and was on my way to losing a third one. The thought of loving someone else and losing them killed me inside. I was so terrified of getting heart broken again that I shut everything out. I mean I talked to guys but I never ever got involved. I wanted to focus on keeping Nick in and keeping everyone else out. It worked for a while, that is until I met you. I knew instantly that you were going to break me, the way you looked at me, it sent chills down my spine. When my dad passed he told me two things. The first was to keep my brother alive as long as possible. The second was to stop pushing everyone away. I'm kind of hard to love, I'm sure you figured that out. I cry a lot and I don't even know why half the time and I feel like my puzzle is missing more pieces than that are in place. But you didn't care about that, you fell in love with me and my flaws and everything I was so scared of was happening. I was falling in love and I was losing my brother. It was all so much and for a while I felt like I was going insane. But then I remember that second thing my dad told me, he told me that a heart is special in the way it loves and it's a shame if I was to deny it. There's no amount of time or reason why we fall in love, that's what's so scary. But we can't be so afraid of getting our heart broken that it prevents us from loving.

Being in love is so beautiful and I'm happy it was you my heart chose. I couldn't imagine waking up to anyone else really. I constantly want to know you're happy and that I'm part of the reason that you are. I will do literally anything to make you smile and that scares that shit out of me. You teach me things about myself that even I didn't know about and I am so thankful I ended up with someone as inspirational as you. A heart is too fragile, and Nick spent the last few months with his first one learning to love you and I did too.

That's why I wanted to be here. Because everything I thought I knew, you took it and threw it out the window. You changed my whole entire perspective and I need you. I don't need you financially or your name or your admittedly good looks. I need your soul reminding me that not all hope is gone. I need your mind to continue to figure out who I am supposed to be. I need your body to hold me up when I break down. I need you even when I don't need you" she explains. I wipe away a tear as she looks up at me.

"You are so incredibly beautiful, inside and out" I smile.

"I'm really happy I came."