The grimy stadium mirror reflected my green University of Hawaii baseball cap that kept sitting slightly higher on my head than I wanted. I tightened the velcro in the back and tried to smooth my humidity enhanced blonde waves, or frizz. Not seeing your boyfriend for three months tended to leave a girl wanting to impress.

My mom finished washing her hands and I dutifully followed her through the crowds of college kids to our usual seats by the third base home dugout. We were thirty minutes early, so students were just starting to arrive, but people were clearly excited. I sat on the edge of my seat, waiting for the boys to come out. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I glanced down, surprised to see a text from Will.

Will: Hey, can you find your way down below the stadium to where the locker room entrance is? My or your dad might be able to point you in the right direction.

"If you need me to," I replied before asking my dad which way the entrance was. As soon as I rounded the corner that I was directed to things got quieter. The empty concrete hallways below the stadium were painted green and white and covered with motivational quotes.

River: I'm in the hallway

Will jogged out a moment later, grabbing onto me and cradling my head between his shoulder and cheek. I gripped his warm up shirt tightly. "I'm so glad that you're here, and okay," he whispered, holding me close.

I pulled my head back a little to see his eyes were wet and were about to start tearing up. "Will, I'm genuinely fine, I promise. He's probably the one that is still recovering from the whole thing. But I'm going to need you to save the tears for later because you have a game in twenty five minutes."

He wiped his eyes and smiled. "Yeah, actually, about that. Coach wants to know if you'll throw out the first pitch."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Since when do you guys even do that? And I haven't thrown a baseball in months, that sounds like it could be very embarrassing."

"Well, he heard of your fame and wanted to give you the honor, you know, because you're such a legend around here. And we all know you take after your brother, you could throw a strike with your eyes closed."

"Who would catch?"

"I offered to. Evan said that he wouldn't because it would be too embarrassing if you missed, but if you would rather it be someone other than me then I'm sure any of the catchers would do it," Will answered.

I ran my hand through my hair nervously before I nodded. "Okay, you can do it. Can I get a bullpen in first though?"

He grinned. "Absolutely."

Will turned around and walked quickly through the hallways, stopping to run into the locker room to update his coach before we continued to the bullpen. He opened a door in the concrete wall that revealed three mounds and plates right outside of left field. Two guys were still throwing their warmups, but neither of them were Evan. Rumor was that he would have game two of the doubleheader.

"Sanders, what are you doing out here?" One of them called after he finished his follow-through.

He gestured towards me with his glove hand. "I'm catching the local celebrity."

"River Lancer, no way! Long time no see," the other pitcher yelled when he noticed who I was.

"Kumar, what's up?" I asked him, thankfully recognizing him from when I had met him through Evan.

"Alright boys, we got some work to do before showtime so don't mind us, we're just going to borrow this mound," Will said, leading me over to the empty rubber.

I held my glove that my mother had somehow conveniently had in her car up to my face like I had seen the pro's do when they were on the field. "Are you wearing protective gear for this?"

Will laughed and shoved me onto the rubber before trotting over to home plate. "I just wasn't sure what your future plans regarding children entailed. I wouldn't want this to risk that for you," I called to him. Kumar gave me a look from where he was starting his windup, and one of the other catchers fell back on his knees laughing.

Will winked and flashed me four fingers where the catcher would usually give the pitcher the pitch signs, signaling that he was planning on having four kids. "Boy, you better find yourself a new girl if that's your plan," I yelled at him.

"Just you wait," he called back, shaking his head and grinning.

We finally made it to a point where I stopped laughing long enough to toss the ball in a bit off the plate. The next pitch was smoother and I caught the inside corner, followed by another closer to the middle.

"Can we see some more leg drive? I need you to get that knee in the air and then push harder off of your back foot," Kumar called from his own rubber.

The next pitch consisted of me copying his motion but overexaggerating every aspect of it. Surprisingly it was a little bit faster, but I held on too long and threw it in the dirt. Thankfully, Will blocked it before it actually hit him in the face. "Wow, that one tip will get me drafted before you Kumar, better watch who you offer advice too."

That got some laughs, and Will and I followed them to the field after we finished warming up (meaning that I threw at least three strikes). Evan had brought Will's equipment from the locker room, so we just had to walk out and throw the pitch.

I followed him up the concrete steps to the dugout where the head coach gave me a nod and waved us out to the field. The clay threatened to turn my white sneakers red, just like many of Evan's cleats from previous years, so I tread carefully.

Will crouched gracefully down behind the plate and grinned before slapping his fist into his glove and flashing a complex sequence of signs jokingly. I adjusted my cap and looked around quickly to make sure that I was good to start. There was no need to embarrass myself by doing this too early. Thankfully, the announcer took the opportunity to introduce me and share my recent achievements.

I smiled when he finished and wound up, praying for a catchable throw the entire time. The ball left my hand and flew down from the mound to the center of the plate, right down the middle.

There was some scattered applause and cheers from the fans. "I got two ace's!" My dad cheered from the stands. I shook my head as Will walked up to me from behind the plate. He gave me a fistbump and I followed him back towards the dugout. A pair of young girls was waving at me from the fence between the stands and the field.

"River, River!" One of the girls who looked about eight cheered.

"I'll say hi to them real quick and then head back to the stands," I said quietly to Will. He nodded and winked before adjusting his hat and heading off to join his teammates.

"We're Kumar's sisters, he said that you would be here today and we were so excited because we love you!" The more animated girl spoke up, while the other one offered a shy smile. The younger one quieted down when I got closer, so I gave her a smile that I attempted to use to relax more nervous fans.

"Hey guys, I appreciate the support! What are your names?"

"I'm Olive and this is Naomi," the taller girl chirped, gesturing to her sister who nodded.

"Nice to meet you Olive and Naomi, I do have to get off the field soon so our brothers can play soon but do you want a picture or an autograph?" I asked, glancing at the field.

Olive expressed her enthusiasm and their mom came down to take a photo of us after I signed their programs. They darted off to watch their brother pitch and I walked back through the dugout and under the stadium to get back to my family.

I bit the inside of my lip slightly when I saw that Will wasn't out at third. Rachel had told me that he hadn't played yet this year, but a small part of me had hoped that he would make it out for this game. He had looked so much better when he was catching for me than I was expecting, and I had thought that it might be enough. Evan had already told me that he was slated to start the second game against Oregon, so I settled back into my seat to watch the first game passively.

Rachel and Koa told me anecdotes about the players from UH when they were up to bat or made a nice play in the field, with the occasional interjection from my parents. Because of the nature of baseball pitching, my parents usually only attended games when Evan pitched, meaning that they missed more games than the Sanders who had an eternal sense of optimism.

By the end of the first game, which ended in a one run loss, I was starving and resolved to make the trek out to my car to find a protein bar. I don't think that it was technically allowed inside the stadium, but I was saving all of my junk calories for after the game. The concessions stand was not worth messing up my diet, so I would smuggle my own food in.

Evan had just recorded his first out when I made it back to the game. My parents were staring intently down at him as he faced a three and two count against the next batter. I glanced quickly at third base, but the same senior was still occupying Will's former position.

Focusing my attention back on Evan, I watched as he threw three hitless innings before allowing one hit in the fourth inning and another in the fifth. Thankfully, UH's offensive was doing better against Oregon's pitcher this game, and we had scored three runs to their zero by the time that the coach removed Evan from the game and put the reliever in. The game ended in a three to one UH win, and we all waited in the stands for the boys to show up after their post-game talk.

Evan emerged from the dugout first, beaming. "River!" he exclaimed before leaning over the fence that separated us and wrapping his arms around my neck in a chokehold.

"Get off of me," I groaned, attempting and failing to wrestle his arms off of me.

Will walked by us and casually patted me on the shoulder, failing to do anything to help me. He went on to give his parents a hug while my mom laughed and took pictures of Evan and I.

"Okay, time to get food," Evan announced, finally releasing me.

"You boys need to get changed first," my dad nodded at their uniforms. They saluted him and dashed back through the dugout to the locker room, pushing one another to get through the doorways first.

"Alrighty then, let's meet them out front," Koa offered, laughing as the boys left.

They all loaded into their own car to go to the Italian restaurant and I waited by Evan's car to grab a ride with them. "You want to sit in the front?" Will asked when he and Evan showed up. He had changed into a pair of jeans and a navy sweatshirt with a black hat and went to open the passenger's door for me, but I shook my head and took the back seat.

"I'll let the tall people take the front," I laughed. They took turns blasting their favorite songs, or ones that I hated, the whole ride. I couldn't help but smile that we were finally back together, although Noah was missing tonight due to a looming group project due date.

Evan leapt out of the car the second that he threw it into park, bounding out and into the restaurant. I followed Will out at a slightly slower pace.

"Sorry I didn't play today," he said quietly as we walked inside.

I reached up and caressed the back of his neck softly. "Don't feel bad. I wish that you could play, but I know that you wish that more than me. I'm just happy to be here."

He nodded and bit his lip before bending down to kiss my cheek. "Thanks for coming anyway."

"Always."

If you don't follow me or happen to have missed the update, there are updated aesthetics at the beginning of the book now instead of a cast. Hope you enjoy them, and thanks for reading, commenting, and voting :)))