CH. 17 -- PETE

"It's the top of the ninth, and third baseman Nick Scimeca is up to bat. Two outs. Nick has gone three for seven tonight, and his last bat was a sac bunt." The announcer says as Nick steps in the box. He takes a deep breath, and the first pitch comes and hits him in the back of his thigh when he tries to move out of the way of it.

Nick doesn't swear, but it's a close thing as he limps down the line to first base. Sam, our assistant coach, gives him a high five and probably tells him to shake it off or something because he has to get to second base safely in order for us to win. Nick simply nods, and I can see him gritting his teeth as he jumps up and down a few times. It'll probably leave a bruise.

Before Patrick steps in the batter's box, he sticks his baseball cross his father got him inside his shirt after kissing it. He always does that before his last bat in a game. I will never understand why he still wears that thing even after everything his father has put him through, but I guess tradition is tradition.

Our eyes meet before he steps in the box, and he winks at me before focusing on the pitcher. He swings at the first pitch and fouls it off to the first base side, which means he's swinging late.

"Relax, and keep your eye on the ball, Stump. You're swinging late, but you got this, alright?" Coach says to assure him. Patrick nods and gets back in the box before taking a deep breath. He hits the ball between short stop and third, and he beats the ball by one step.

Our dugout goes crazy, seeing as we've just pulled ahead by one point. When Patrick's runner, Josh, goes to first for him and Patrick comes back in the dugout, everyone basically jumps him.

As everyone finally lets him go and he makes his way over to me, I can't help but smile. He still looks good even though his nose is swollen badly. I hold my fist out for him as he stops in front of me.

"Knew you had it in you, Stump." I say, and he rolls his eyes but bumps my fist as he walks by. He begins to put his gear back on to go out and play for the bottom of this inning.

By the time we go back out, we're ahead by two. I get into my stance before throwing the ball to Patrick, who catches it and throws it down to second.

"Batter up, let's go." The ump calls as I get the ball back. The guy that steps into the box is the catcher for UC Riverside. The last time he came up to bat, he hit one in the left-center gap between Gerard and Ryan.

Patrick calls for an inside and high pitch to get the boy to chase. It works, and he misses it. Screams from both sides of the crowd erupt. Half are telling the catcher to get his damn head in the game and hit the ball, and the other half are yelling for me and Patrick to work together to get the boy out.

Patrick calls for another pitch inside, just a little bit lower so it'll be in the strike zone as he ignores the crowd. The guy doesn't swing, but a strike is called. Patrick winks at me before calling an outside and high pitch.

The guy leaves it alone, making the count one and two. The next pitch I throw is an outside change up, and he pops it straight up.

Patrick throws his helmet off and calls for the ball, diving to catch it. The ump runs over to see if he still has it in his glove, and he does, so the batter is out.

However, Patrick's nose begins to bleed again from the impact of the ground. I immediately run for Patrick, cupping his cheek when I get to him as I tilt his head a little. Coach calls timeout so he and Brent can come on the field.

Brent somehow gets his nose to stop bleeding, and he sticks a cotton ball up each nostril before leaning closer to us. "Breathe through your mouth. You have two outs to get, and then I can see what's wrong. You got this." He pats Patrick's back before he and Coach go off the field.

"You tell me if you need a sub, Patrick, I'm not playing." I tell him, and he nods. I go back onto the mound as the next batter comes up.

The first pitch I throw, he bunts it to Nick, who throws the ball as hard as he can to Spencer, who came to cover first because Andy had to cover the bunt. I narrowly avoid getting my head taken off, but when we beat the runner, and it's two outs, I all but jump Nick.

Nick smiles and hugs me back before his eyes flicker to Patrick and then back to me. "Do it for him. He wants this more than anyone."

I nod as Spencer throws me the ball. I take a deep breath as the last batter, hopefully, comes up. Patrick calls for my curve inside and low.

I take another breath before doing what he asked. The ball is hit far to the left side. Ryan makes a diving attempt to catch it, and he does. After he's called out, Patrick comes running at me and catches me when I jump into his arms.

He spins us around a few times before laughing and putting me down. He takes his helmet off, and even though he looks completely fucking stupid with cotton balls shoved up his nose, something in me wants to kiss him.

And I do.

so finally peterick kissed!

sorry for the cliffhanger but i'll hopefully update soon haha

thoughts?