S A M

        "Meet me at the sandlot's dugout after four." Was what Benny told me before I got to walk into the sandlot to watch him and the rest of the boys play. He also told me not to watch them play, which made me confused, and a little suspicious. 

        I agreed anyways, mentally slapping myself. I should've asked him why he didn't want me to be there, but I didn't know why I didn't.

        As I was walking away from the Sandlot, I shook my head sighing deeply. Maybe he just needs some guy time with the boys. As much as I wanted to, Benny couldn't be with me 24/seven that was understandable but I still don't get why he wanted me to go back at four.

        Since I have spent all my summer days watching the boys play at the Sandlot, I did nothing else. I don't know what to do with this free time now, but I have to find something to do besides doing nothing at my house. 

⚾

        I promised myself that i wasn't going to stay at my house doing nothing but that's what I did. for most of the day, I watched television and raided the kitchen, eating a bunch of snacks I found. Most of them were baby snacks meant for Jacob but I ate them anyways. When you're hungry, you're hungry, especially when you're bored.

        Anyways, besides that, I laid on my bed and threw a ball at the wall then caught it, repeating the action multiple times. I walked aimlessly around the house and I even started talking to myself, making up jokes, trying to make myself laugh.

        I was so bored that I was close to going to the Sandlot no matter what Benny said. But finally four o' clock came around and I was already at the Sandlot's entrance by then since I left my house and couple of minutes earlier.

        When I arrive at the dusty Sandlot, I scan the area and find Benny standing in front of the dugout. The dugout is decorated beautifully; two big, white cloths where draped over the dugout's roof and bench while different colored flowers are adorning the light fabric. I smile widely at Benny and he returns the smile, waving shyly at me. Did he do this? I think, my feet carrying me towards him.

        I walk through the empty Sandlot and stop in front of him, biting my lip to control my big smile. "Hey," I breath out as Benny leans his face in and kisses my right cheek softly with his lips.

        "Hi sweetheart." He greets back, grabbing my left hand with his right one.

        My eyes look up and wander again, examining the dugout up close. "What is this?"

        Benny starts walking backwards, leading me into the dugout slowly. "Well, today makes one week since we've started going steady, and we haven't had a date yest so..." He nods his head down, signaling me to look down. I see him take off his worn out sneakers leaving him in his socks. I furrow my eyebrows, confused until I saw a big, red checkered blanket covering the dusty and dirty ground.

        I quickly slip off my shoes and step onto the cloth, raising an eyebrow at Benny, allowing him to finish his sentence. "So?"

        He smiles a toothy grin, stepping over a small, clear vase with a single daisy in it before sitting down behind it. "Welcome to our first date."

        "Oh my god," I gush, a heat tingling through my cheeks. I sit down in front of his and the vase, crossing my legs. 

        "I'm sorry that this isn't a big fancy date." Benny looks down at his twiddling thumbs. "I just didn't have lots of ideas and I don't have money since I don't have a job, so this won't be memorable at all and—"

        As he talked, my chest started to feel heavy with sadness and my lips curled down into a frown. Why is he worrying so much about this?  I think, closing my eyes for a moment as a warm summer breeze softly blew by. I sigh out loudly before opening my eyes and grasping Benny's chin with my thumb and forefinger. I pull his face up and look into his honey-hazel eyes dotted with green flecks. Then I grab his cheeks with my fingers and squish them together, pursing his lips, making him look like a fish. I do this so that the could look at my face and focus on me while I talked.

        "Hey," I say softly. "I don't care if this isn't an extravagant date. I love simple, it's beautiful. What you've done here — it's gorgeous. I will remember this forever and ever and never forget any moment we spend together because I spent them with you.You mean so much to me Benny. Now don't think, even for a second that I don't want this, okay?"

        Benny nods and tries to say okay back, but all he manages to get out is a muffled sound.

        I notice that I'm still squishing his cheeks together and I giggle, realizing how adorable he looks. "Good." I bite my lip before quickly leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to his pursed lips.

        When I pull back, I release his face and lean back down to sit. Benny smiles before leaning his face in and connecting our lips together again softly. We hold our lips together as we kiss for a few seconds, then Benny breaks he kiss and sits back down on the checkered blanket.

        "You're amazing." Benny says, smiling widely, showing his teeth.

        I wink and teasingly say, "So I've heard."

        My boyfriend shakes his head, amused while chuckling. "Only you Sam, only you." Before I can say something back to reply. he reaches his hand back behind him and reveals a wooden picnic basket. "So, I hope you came hungry."

  ⚾  

        Benny and I were stuffed and so full that our stomachs hurt. In the basket, Benny brought ham and cheese sandwiches with lettuce and tomatoes on the side in small containers along with glass bottles of coca-cola. We ate everything and left only a few bottles left and now we're laying on our sides facing each other.

        We've been in this position for a while now, talking about random stuff until things got serious. Benny started to ask questions about  how I grew up in the streets.

        "I still can't get how you, at three years old, escaped the orphanage, and survived! That is just...wow."

        "Well," I sigh and think fir a moment. I collect everything together and put it in order so that I can say and explain things properly. "I was little so I wasn't thinking right, but I do remember wanting out so I just slipped out an open door and no one saw me."

        "So how'd you survive?"

        "This is really gross but again, since I was little, I ate from garbage cans since I thought they were full of free food. I also drank almost empty bottles and cans to swallow down the rest of the liquid that was left. I didn't care if it was water, soda, juice, I still drank it. How did I not get sick or get food poisoning? I don't know. Also, since eventually people found out that I was missing, I was searched for so when the cops saw me and started chasing me to catch me, I ran. So I've been running since I was little."

        Benny's eyes grow big as they widen. "So where'd you sleep then...and oh! How'd you learn how to talk so well, and do you know how to read, write, count, and spell?"

        I raise my eyebrows. "Damn, hold on paparazzi, I didn't realize that this was an interview."

        He opens his mouth to apologize but I place my finger to his lips to shush him. "It's okay." He makes a noise to protest but I narrow my eyes, giving him a warning look. He raises his hands in surrender, allowing me to continue.

        I remove my finger from his lips and wipe off his germs by sliding my finger on his clothed thigh before speaking again. "Being a little toddler, I was curious so I explored every little space I found, so I ended up in The Valley dump. I remember falling asleep on a mattress that was on the floor and that's where I've been sleeping until you and the rest of the boys reunited me with Wendy. At three years old, I already knew a lot of words but I learned more by the television. You know that electronics store with the television sets on the display windows? I would spend most of my time watching whatever was on, well, until I found the Sandlot. Also by the television I know how to read and write and spell some words, including my name. And counting, not really, I only know up to five."

        Benny's eyebrows crease together in worry. He bites his lip and whispers, "I'm so sorry Sam, you had to go through all of that...no one deserves that, especially not you sweetheart."

        A sad smile forms on my lips as I sit up and shrug. "Thanks but, we can't change the past."

        "But we can change the future." Benny smirks and sits up as well. He looks down and moves his face from side to side as if looking for something on the ground. He let's out a small 'a-ha' as he looks back up and waves an object in my face; a stick. "I'm going to teach you."

        My eyebrows raise in surprise before I realize they do. "Teach me?" I echo.

        "Yes, teach you. Now come on and pay attention."

 ⚾

        The big light illuminating everything slowly starts to darken, making the markings on the dirt disappear. Benny and I both look up at the sky and realize that the sun is almost done setting. Benny scrambles up from the floor, crumpling up the blanket. He jogs to go behind the dugout, clicking something before small while lights turn on next to me, making the ground markings reappear. I turn my head and see white christmas lights hanging from the dugout's roof.

        I move my attention to Benny who's holding a miniature red lantern that's glowing with a light inside. I slap my hands to my mouth, covering it to stop a big gasp. Benny smiles at my reaction, approaching me with his arms outstretched. My body is still with shock so I force myself to stand to my feet and approach him as well.

        We meet in the middle and Benny offers me the paper lantern. I place my hands on it's top sides as Benny holds the bottom sides. I raise my head to look into his eyes. "What is this?"

        Benny's mouth curl into a smirk. "Like it?"

        "Love it!" I smile and giggle, biting my tongue between my teeth.

        "Good," He sighs out in relief. I love how he goes from confident to shy in just a matter of seconds. "i was hoping you would. Like I said, I didn't have many ideas."

        I giggle again, pressing a soft kiss to his nose. "Well, I'm glad you didn't because this is perfect. Don't you worry about anything."

        He nods, his smirk fading into a smile. "Okay. So, if we let this go, it will float up into the sky and we'll never see it again, so I want this to mean something."

        "It already does Benny."

        "Then what are we waiting for?"

        "This." I move my head up to meet his face and I take his lips in mine, quickly tilting my head to deepen the kiss as I close my eyes.

        When I feel a warmth on my hips, I know that Benny's let go of the little lantern. i remove my hands from it and keep them between our bodies, clasping them together.

        As much as I love Benny's lips on mine, I want to see the glowing object float away. I disconnect our lips and I tilt my head up to see it a couple of meters up in the air already. I lean in and rest the right side of my face on Benny's warm chest. His chin presses into my hair, his arms wrapping themselves around my waist.

        As we both watch the lantern representing our relationship and our feelings for each other drift away into a red dot in the white lights illuminating our bodies, there's no one else I would want to be with.

 ⚾  

I FINALLY UPDATED BE HAPPY WITH ME AND REMEMBER TO GIVE ME IDEAS FOR MORE SCENES AND IMAGINES IN THE COMMENTS