- Chapter 42 - Baseball Friendships -
Warnings: Flufffff
Modern AU
Third Person POV

A/N, I had an idea and even though it might be cringy, I love the idea lol. (The picture is a conversation I had with my sister today. I'm the blue text and I failed at typing.)
(Also, you don't have to, but I really need (any) comments right now.)

Race watched as the ball flew over the fence and into his new neighbors yard.

He cringes, lowering the bat that had been over his shoulder.

The boys look at him.

"Who's getting that?" Finch asks slowly, looking between the boys.

"It's Race's neighbor and he hit the ball..." JoJo trails off, looking at Race.

Race mentally curses, shooting JoJo a not-so-subtle glare. "Is this really how I'm meeting my new neighbors?" He questions, looking at his brothers.

"You'd rather one of us, who aren't their neighbors, met them?" Jack asks him, leaning against the fence.

"Fine." Race gives in, throwing the bat on the ground in front of him. "I'm going to get it," he grumbles, starting to walk off.

"Don't look so sad, Racer." Henry tells him, a playful smirk on his face. "Maybe there'll be a cute boy there." He teases.

Race rolls his eyes, making a mental note to regret telling the boys his sexuality later.

"Miss Hannah (his foster mother)!" Race shouts, cupping his hands over his mouth like a microphone. "I'm heading to get our ball from the neighbor's house!" His eyes were closed while he yelled.

He hated yelling.

"Okay, Race!" Hannah shouts back from inside the house.

"Give them some warning, won't you?" Blink jokes, pulling Mush into his arms.

Mush turns bright red.

Race rolls his eyes.

He grabs his hat, securing it on his head, some of his dirty, blonde curls poking out from under it.

He liked it that way though.

Race grabs his blue, white, and green flannel from the fence, where most of the boy's shirts or flannels were thrown.

He ties it around his waist.

Race opens the gate to leave the yard.

The boys/his chosen brothers wave to him, tease him about the chance of there being cute boys, and tell him to be safe as he closes the gate.

The distance between Race's yard and his neighbors wasn't much, but both of their yards were relatively big.

It was a hot day in Manhattan, New York, being about 89 degrees Fahrenheit.

After running around a lot, most of the boys were covered in sweat or water that they poured on themselves.

Crutchie was, as they named it, the 'Hose Master' because he sprayed the boys off when they wanted to be cold.

Or just when Lucky and Les wanted to play in the water or if they wanted to get payback on an older boy for being annoying.

They also played a few rounds of baseball with the littles and Crutchie.

Crutchie had a good arm, so when he played, he was usually the pitcher.

If he did bat, they made sure he was stable while standing and they threw the ball softer (like they did with the littles) and then, when he hit it, they'd let him hobble to the bases, them pretending to move in slow motion.

Crutchie just liked that they let him play and he was grateful they let him have the feeling of hitting it and getting to the bases.

Race could run, fast. He was usually picked first because of that.

Finch, Ike, and Mush could throw well, so they were usually pitchers.

Jack was usually Catcher, but Henry switched with him a lot.

It was usually Jack did one team, Henry did the other.

Blink, Specs, Boots, Buttons, and JoJo were usually catchers in the outfield or bases.

Mike, Elmer, Tommy boy, and Romeo were good batters.

Davey did stats.

That was just what people liked playing, not to say that they weren't good at other things or that they didn't switch occasionally, but that's what they usually did.

Davey never really played, unless they used fifteen pairs of puppy eyes.

Race steps up to the neighbors door.

He stayed there for a moment, before forcing himself to put on a smile and knock.

The door opened after a second, revealing two boys about Race's age.

Race immediately turned bright red.

The taller one had firey red hair, pale skin, but not as pale as Race's, one green eye and one brown eye, and lots of freckles. The muscles on his arms were very noticeable and he had a muscle shirt on.

The other boy was a bit shorter than the redhead, but still slightly taller than Race, with greasy, brown hair and brown eyes. His skin was tan and he wore no shirt, making his abs very obvious.

The brown haired boy (17) smirks at Race.

The redhead (16) just smiles. "Hi." He greets.

Race shakes himself out of his trance, his cheeks still a bit red.

"Morning," Race starts awkwardly. "My friends and I were playing baseball and I," he was mentally hating himself for saying this and hating his brothers for making him be the one to tell them. "Hit the ball so hard it flew over the fence into your yard." Race lowers his head in embarrassment.

The two boys share chuckles.

"You must have a good arm if you've gone and done that." The brown haired boy comments, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

Race rubs the back of his neck. "Eh. I guess you could say that." He responds slowly.

The redhead turns to grab the ball, leaving Race with the brown haired boy.

"You my new neighbor?" The brown haired boy asks, looking Race up and down.

Race nods. "Yup."

The redhead comes back.

"You going to tell me your name?" The brown haired boy asks, an eyebrow raised. "Or just leave me in the dark until I figure it out?" He questions.

The redhead hands Race the ball.

Race smirks a bit. "Now that you've given me the choice..." he starts.

The redhead laughs, while the brown haired boy rolls his eyes.

"I'm Spot." He introduces himself. "This is my boyfriend, Albert."

That stung Race's heart a bit.

"I'm Racetr- er-" Race stops himself. "Antonio Ed. Higgins." He reiterates.

The two older boys chuckle.

Race saw some of his brothers looking at them from his fence.

He rolls his eyes. They're so creepy.

"What's your age?" Spot asks him. "Just so we aren't playing with a fourteen year old." He states.

Race shoots him an offended look. "I'm offended you've de-aged me." He dramatizes. "I'm fifteen."

Spot rolls his eyes.

"I'm sixteen." Albert informs Race. "Spot's seventeen."

They stay there in silence for a minute.

Race rubs the back of his neck. "I batter- uh- better-" he mentally smacks himself as he blushes. "Get going. The boys will be waiting." He states quietly.

Race turns to leave.

"Wait!" Albert exclaims.

Race turns back around to face them, an eyebrow raised.

Albert looks at Spot, who nods, before looking back at Race.

"Could we- maybe- play with you guys?" Albert asks, sounding almost shy.

Spot grabs a shirt from inside the house, slipping it on.

Play baseball with two cute boys? Race's mind smirks. Heck yes.

They're dating though. His internal smirk deflated a bit.

They're still cute. He shrugs internally.

"Yeah." Race agrees. "Why not? We're always looking for more brothers- I mean players." Race mentally smacks himself again.

Albert and Spot chuckle.

"Wait." Spot stops in his tracks, turning Race and Albert's attention to him. "Will your friends judge us?" He nervously gestures to his and Albert's intwined hands.

Albert looked nervous too.

Race smirks. "Nah, we're all very gay." He responds with a chuckle. "Most of them are dating each other, or at least crushing. Tommy boy and Finch are pinning, hard, but Finch doesn't want to ask because he doesn't want to pressure Tommy boy because Tommy boy has had a hard time with relationship in the past, and Tommy boy is too nervous." He explains.

Albert and Spot chuckle as they start walking.

Race opens the gate. "Got the ball, losers, and some new friends!" He shouts, throwing the ball to Buttons. "And by the way, you're all creeps." He points to them.

Some of the boys laugh.

"Racer! Tommy boy and Finch finally kissed!" JoJo shouts, grinning as he jumped up and down.

Tommy boy hides his head in Finch's neck, bright red, while Finch chuckles.

"Oh yeah," Race turns to face Albert and Spot. "We all have weird nicknames. Don't question them, you'll soon find out why we got them." He tells them.

"What name did you give them?" Elmer asks Race, a confused look on his face.

Albert and Spot share chuckles.

"My real name?" Race shoots him an obvious look. "You know, the one my birth mother gave me? Antonio Higgins?"

Elmer nods, his mouth forming an 'o' shape in realization.

"Francis!" Race shouts, looking for his older brother.

"Antonio Higgins, call me that one more time and I swear to God-" Jack starts annoyedly.

Race rolls his eyes. "That's Albert and Spot, introduce our friends." He tells him. "Please." He adds for good measure.

Jack looks at him. "And what will you be doing?" He asks, an eyebrow raised.

"Grabbing more water?" Race looked confused as to why he was asking.

Jack nods.

He turns to face Albert and Spot. "My name is Jack, though Antonio insists on calling me my birth name." He says.

Albert nods. "Albert DaSilva." He holds his hand out for Jack to shake. "This is my boyfriend, Spot Conlon."

Jack nods, spitting in his hand and going to shake Albert's.

He mentally smacked himself when he realized, before being a little shocked when Spot and Albert spit in their hands and shook his.

"Score, Race!" JoJo shouts, grinning. "They're gay and spit-shake! That's more than Davey was when he met us at first." He exclaims.

The boys chuckle.

"And now I'm gay too." Davey mutters, pushing his glasses up his face.

Davey's eyes had been hurting from wearing contacts a lot, so Jack forced him to wear his glasses.

Finch smirks at him. "But you still refuse to spit-shake." He comments.

Davey rolls his eyes. "It's disgusting." He mutters.

Finch chuckles.

"That's Finch, he's seventeen. He likes birds and usually has a slingshot." Jack introduces Finch.

Finch waves, his slingshot in his hand.

"That's Henry, he's seventeen. He's a good cook and likes pastrami on rye with a sour pickle sandwiches."

Henry shoots them a thumbs up.

Spot points at him. "He has good taste." He comments.

The boys laugh, while Henry tips his hat to him.

"Specs, he's sixteen. He's smart and usually keeps us safe."

Specs nods.

"That's Davey, he's seventeen. He's my boyfriend and he is also really smart, though he gets easily exasperated with us."

Davey rolls his eyes, leaning against the fence (he sat in the grass) and holding his book in front of his face.

"That's Crutchie, he's sixteen. He is a bean and we love him."

Crutchie grins at them.

"Elmer, he's fifteen and also a bean. He's a ray of sunshine."

Elmer's grin only grew.

"That's JoJo, he's fifteen. He's crazy and a ball of sunshine and ADHD, but we still love him."

JoJo went to respond, but he saw a butterfly and went to go follow it instead.

"That's Romeo, he's sixteen. He's very much a flirt and we're pretty sure he also has ADHD, but who cares if he's different? He's still our brother."

Romeo winks, before smiling at Jack's words.

"That's Buttons, he's fifteen. He is a smart ball of sunshine."

Buttons turns to his boyfriend, beaming.

Henry chuckles.

"That's Mike, he's fifteen. Don't get him confused with his twin, Ike. They're similar and different."

Mike and Ike share smirks.

"That's Boots, he's sixteen. He's not a huge fan of touch, unless he really needs it or if it's from his boyfriend, so just keep that in mind."

Boots shoots Jack a thumbs up.

"That's Tommy boy, he's fifteen. He's a bit shyer and easily embarrassed, and he's Dyslexic, but don't let that fool you. He's really smart, especially in Science."

Finch swore he felt Tommy boy smile against his neck.

"That's Mush, he's fifteen. He and Blink are probably the coupliliest couple you'll ever meet, but when their cuteness isn't sickening, they're adorable."

Mush smiles as he laces his hand with Blink's.

"That's Blink, or Kid Blink, and he's sixteen. He has different eye patches for different holidays and stuff. It's actually pretty cool."

Blink nods, biting back a smile.

"Les is ten and Davey's little brother, and Lucky is eleven, and despite what you may think, he and Race are not related."

Les and Lucky were too busy playing in the water that Crutchie was spraying at them to notice.

They were giggling and laughing while Crutchie just chuckled and kept the hose still as it sprayed water on them.

"And lastly, Race. You've met him already, but by his actual name." Jack tells them. "His nickname is Racetrack, or Racer/Race. He's fifteen and probably the fastest person here." He informs them.

Spot and Albert nod.

"Alright," Race claps his hands together. "Who's-"

"I'm team Captain!" Buttons and Romeo shout in unison.

"Race is on my team!" Romeo shouts before Buttons could.

Buttons glares at him.

Romeo sticks his tongue out.

"Okay," Race chuckles. "What's our team color?" He asks.

"Blue." Romeo decides.

"Purple." Buttons answers for his team.

Race nods. "Light or dark?" He asks, grabbing the bracelets.

They had a lot of colors.

"Light." Romeo and Buttons answer in unison.

"Can we purposefully split up couples?" Crutchie asks from the sidelines. "It's fun, and we should also probably split Mike and Ike up."

Buttons and Romeo nod.

After a few minutes, they figured out the teams.

They each had a colored bracelet based on their team color.

Blue team -
Romeo (Captain), Race, Elmer, Albert, Mike, Henry, Mush, and Tommy boy

Purple team -
Buttons, Finch, JoJo, Blink, Specs, Jack, Ike, Boots, and Spot

There was an uneven amount of boys, so the red team had more players.

"Piece of advice, Racer," Ike starts from where he was pitching.

Race looks up at him, the bat in his hands.

Ike smirks. "Don't trip and don't hit the ball over the fence." He teases.

The boys start laughing.

Race rolls his eyes. "I'll try not to, but no promises." He responds.

Albert and Spot share smiles.

Ike chuckles.

Ike gets in position to pitch, Race doing the same except to bat.

Ike throws the ball.

Race smirks.

The bat hits the ball with a loud crack.

It soars over the boys.

Race starts running to first base.

The ball hits the fence.

He runs to second and third.

Ike rolls his eyes.

Race stands on home plate again, the boys just now getting the ball.

He smirks at Ike. "It didn't go over the fence." He comments.

Ike rolls his eyes as some of the boys start laughing.

2542 Words
I'm definitely making a part 2.