Chapter 45

"McKinley, Von Batton, a word please." Coach Turner said seriously, fixing his hat.

I stepped away from Elizabeth as we silently walked over him, shockingly solemn considering what just happened.

"Word travels fast in my brother's team." Coach Turner said once we were inside the conference room.

Elizabeth let out a sigh, bending forwards as she put her head in her hands.

"God dammit, Elizabeth." Coach Turner sighed.

"Look, Coach, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you but I didn't think it was relevant." Elizabeth said seriously. "Until this weekend only like three people on the planet knew."

"I'm not talking about your little unfortunate incident with Brian James last year. I'm talking about this weekend. Give me your hand." Coach Turner said seriously.

"Jesus." I whispered when I saw it.

It was even more bruised than yesterday and swollen beyond the point of normal.

Coach Turner let out a low whistle, examining it.

"You understand that I can't play tonight if I'm in a cast." Elizabeth said seriously, staring directly at him. "I'm managing the pain, it's not going to affect my playing at all. I just... I'll get it checked out first thing tomorrow morning."

"First thing after the game." Coach Turner demanded without hesitation. "They're gonna have to re-break these bones to set it, you realize that? A week without attention... Shit." He shook his head.

Elizabeth nodded. "I know. But hey, it's States."

Coach Turner nodded, rubbing the back of his head.

"McKinley thank you for not being stupid this weekend. If you would've come back with a broken hand..." Coach Turner shook his head. "Jeez."

I glanced at Elizabeth, both of us knowing that I did punch Brian James and I would've kept going if Elizabeth hadn't knocked him out.

"Okay but he fell like a bag of potatoes. She packed so much weight behind that punch..." I said proudly. "Coach, you should've seen it. He was going off about..." I trailed off.

"I know." Coach Turner sighed. "My brother got many first hand accounts of people who saw and once he realized that the two people were you, he called me."

"Thanks Hank." Elizabeth muttered, shaking her head.

"Then why am I here, if it's just about the hand?" I frowned.

"The two of you have been off all week. And I need to make sure that there's going to be no drama tonight." Coach Turner said seriously.

"It was all a misunderstanding." I said quietly. "And no, no drama."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"Monday was rough at practice..." Coach Turner gave us a look. "You sure you're good?"

"Coach, seriously, that wasn't a relationship fight. That was a member of my team was being a little bitch and I gave them laps." I said honestly.

"Wow, ouch." Elizabeth laughed, turning to look at me.

"You want to deny it? You pushed me."

"Because you threw the competition!"

"Because I was worried about you!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, standing up from the chair.

"We good to go?" I asked as I stood up.

"Get that hand checked out as soon as the game is over tonight." Coach Turner said seriously. "I mean it, Von Batton."

"Yes, sir." Elizabeth gave him a little salute as we walked out of the room.

~*~*~

"How you doing?" Coach Turner asked, resting his hand on my shoulder as he finally spoke to me about something other than the plays for the first time this whole game.

"I'm doing great." I said honestly, a grin crossing my face.

Coach Turner nodded, his eyes meeting mine for a brief second.

We both knew that this game was in the bag. If we lost, it would be a huge upset.

Woodward was choking and we were staying strong. That was their flaw as a team. They could pull it against any old team, but when it got personal, they choked.

"Fourth and twelve." Coach Turner muttered, glancing up at the scoreboard. "Elizabeth!" He called.

My stomach tightened as she ran out to kick the field goal.

In a game with stakes as high as this, it made me anxious seeing her out on the field.

"Calm down." Coach Turner laughed, hitting my shoulder again. "We need you relaxed and on your game, don't worry about her. She's gonna be fine."

I gave him a forced smile, stepping away as I kept my eyes on Elizabeth.

Fuck the game, she's what I was worried about...

"You're killing it!" Reggie exclaimed, jumping in front of me.

"Seriously! I have never seen you play this well!" Garret yelled, shaking my shoulders.

I laughed, trying to see past them to watch the game.

"Are you like on something tonight?" Reggie laughed. "Because I seriously have never..." 


Reggie trailed off as commotion erupted on the sidelines.

"Jim!" Coach Turner yelled for the trainer, handing off his clipboard as he stepped forwards.

I shoved the twins out of the way as Coach Turner met Elizabeth halfway back to the sidelines.

She was clutching her shoulder, hunched over in pain.

"What happened!" I yelled, nearly knocking her over as I ran up to her.

"Gosh just leave me alone." Elizabeth groaned. "Did it go in?" She asked, trying to turn around.

"That didn't look good we gotta get this checked out." Coach Turner said seriously.

"No." Elizabeth pulled away, wincing as she tried moving her shoulder.

"What happened?" I demanded, looking mostly at Coach Turner.

"She went down but her wrist gave out and her shoulder popped or something." Coach Turner told me.

Why wasn't I watching! God dammit.

"Are you okay? Can I help with-"

"Charlie fuck off." Elizabeth hissed. "Go pay attention to the game. Don't think about me."

"A lot easier said than done." I gave her a look.

"We gotta get this pad off. Kurt warm up, if Elizabeth's out, you're in." Coach Turner called.

"I'm gonna take her back to the locker rooms." Jim, the trainer, said seriously, trying to move Elizabeth's arm.

She let out a moan, pulling away from him. "No, I'm fine!" She exclaimed. "Just stop!"

"Not a chance, this is easily dislocated." Jim shook his head.

"Bullshit." Elizabeth laughed, opening and closing her hand as if that made a difference in the diagnosis.

"We're going." Jim gave her a look.

"I'll go with-"

"Oh McKinley shut the hell up." Coach Turner snapped, shoving me away. "Get away from the girl and focus on the game."

I stumbled away from them, adrenaline pulsing through my body way faster than it should be at this point in the game.

It was only the middle of the third quarter, the adrenaline rush shouldn't kick in until the end of the fourth.

Dammit.

And then a sinking feeling formed in my stomach.

What if I could only focus on Elizabeth? What if I couldn't turn it off long enough to focus on the game?

"Fuck!" I yelled, running my hand through my hair.

"McKinley get your head in the game!" Coach Turner yelled at me.

I took a deep breath, glancing at Elizabeth's back as she walked with Jim towards the lockers.

I shoved the helmet on my head, slapped it twice, and growled to myself.

Reggie and Garret looked at me weird but didn't walk up to me.

Good.

I needed my space.

With one last deep breath, I was more focused on the game and things were alright.

With twenty six seconds left of the fourth quarter, Elizabeth came back out to the field and Coach Turner called a timeout.

"Hit me with the news." Coach Turner said seriously, rubbing his hands together.

"Dislocated but it's back in place and I am ready to go." Elizabeth said seriously, slapping her hands together.

She winced and slowly lowered her right hand to her side before replacing her frown with a huge smile. "I won't let you down Coach. You're fourth and fifteen but totally in my range, I'll get us three more points and we'll double their score."

"No." I interjected, stepping forwards.

"Charlie-"

"No, Coach, we don't need to showboat this win. She's injured." I said seriously.

"Screw you." Elizabeth said harshly. "Take off the boyfriend hat and put on the captain one. Don't you want to win a state ring by literally doubling their score?"

I gave her a look.

"Don't test me right now." I warned.

"Listen, boys, take a breather." Coach Turner said seriously. "Reggie, Garret, captains input?"

"I say go for it, man." Reggie said seriously. "Elizabeth's got it in her and she's right, that kind of score margin is unheard of."

"Yeah." Garret agreed. "Let her rip." He grinned, giving Elizabeth a grin.

"No." I said seriously. "Elizabeth, look at the state of you."

"My legs work fine!" Elizabeth yelled. "What, you're gonna put Kurt out there? I love the guy but he missed a fucking extra point!"

"Hey!" Coach Turner yelled.

"She's right! Put her in, Coach!" Kurt yelled. "Do we want to risk a mistake by the offense that ends up in a touchdown from them? They've got the guys to run it in if they recover a fumble." He warned.

"No!" I yelled, pushing my hair back from my face.

"Times almost up." One of the assistant coaches interjected.

"Elizabeth, as your captain, I cannot let you do this. Your hand is broken, your shoulder is dislocated, you can't-"

"I can do whatever the fuck I want!" Elizabeth yelled. "If Coach puts me in, I'm going in!"

"You're injured!"

"Stop focusing on me and start focusing on your own game!" Elizabeth yelled at me, her eyes turning into daggers. "Your feet are lazy, your posture sucks, and you're lucky anybody's getting on the end of your passes."

"You're one to talk! You're getting sloppy out there too!"

"Bullshit! You're the one getting all up in your head! Start focusing on the game and not insignificant, petty injuries!" Elizabeth laughed. "They're dangerously close to sacking you and Charlie, I swear to God, if you give that jackass quarterback the satisfaction of knowing his defense flattened you, I won't speak to you for a weak."

I glared at her, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Elizabeth, give me a break. I am focusing on the game and what's best for my teammates. You're injured, I just want you to-"

"If I wasn't a girl you wouldn't be putting up such a big fuss!" Elizabeth yelled, stepping forwards.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a minute.

"Not everything is your gender, Elizabeth." I said quietly.

"Cool it." Coach Turner warned, stepping forwards too.

"No! I'm seriously, Charlie. You're doing this because I'm a girl and you think I can't handle the pain! But that's utter bullshit!" Elizabeth yelled.

"I'm doing this because you're a member of my team and it's my job to look out for you!" I yelled, stepping towards her too.

We were nearly face to face now and I could feel my heart pounding in every inch of my body.

"Bullshit!" Elizabeth exclaimed, holding out her arms. Her right arm fell like a dead weight but her left arm stayed up as her eyebrows pulled together. "Last week when Paul fucked up his ankle you told him to suck it up and get his ass on the field. Why don't I get that support! Do you not trust me enough?!" Elizabeth yelled.

"No it's not that!" I said loudly. "Elizabeth don't-"

"Then WHY?" Elizabeth yelled. "Huh? Why can't you just let me be a fucking member of this team and-"

"Because I love you, dammit!" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Because I'm fucking in love with you and when you hurt, I hurt, and I can't stand to see you in pain!"

Silence rippled across the huddle and Coach Turner let out a slow breath, taking off his hat to rub his hair.

Elizabeth's anger instantly faded and a slight smile formed on her lips.

"Well I love you too but we're in the middle of the most important game of the season, I hardly think this is the time." She said softly, biting her bottom lip.

"Times up." Coach Turner said seriously. "Elizabeth, you're going out there. McKinley, put a sock in it."

"God, if you want to go out there, fine. I'm here for you. But just know..." I trailed off. "Please be careful."

Elizabeth's face broke into a huge grin and she leaned up to kiss my cheek.

"Let's make history!"

And history was certainly made.

We beat Woodward 49-24, completely doubling their score in one of the best games we'd played all season.

Elizabeth aced the field goal with room to spare and barely stopped to celebrate with the guys on the field before sprinting head on towards me.

The force of her hug nearly knocked me off my feet but I pulled her into my arms with the tightest hug I could manage.

"Ow! Ow Charlie!" Elizabeth laughed, burying her head in my shoulder. "My arm, careful."

"We gotta get you to the emergency room." I said seriously, trying to set her back on the ground.

"Oh stop being such a pussy and kiss me, would you? We have the rest of the weekend to worry about my arm. Enjoy this moment with me, would you?" Elizabeth laughed, pressing her forehead against mine.

I closed my eyes and held her body close to mine, my ears buzzing with the energy from the stadium.

"I fucking love you, Elizabeth Von Batton." I whispered, pressing my lips to hers.

Elizabeth kissed me back for barely a second before pulling away and standing on her own feet again.

She gave me a wink before turning to Reggie and Garret as they all started screaming with excitement.

I joined the celebration with a full heart and not a care in the world.

Because I did it all.

I got the girl, the ring, and nothing could ruin this high.