The echoes of the announcer's pre-game speech reached my car, but it was difficult to understand his words until I was just outside the stadium. It was a few days after UH's double header against Oregon, and they were on today against the number one seed in Division 1, UCLA. Evan was reportedly back on the mound and it was bound to be an interesting game against the Bruins. I was running late due to a gym session that went longer than expected. Unfortunately, it was hard to dip out of a session when your trainer and the other two surfers there gave you an excessive amount of crap for leaving early. Thankfully, the announcer had just declared that it was time to "play ball", so I would only miss a couple of Evan's pitches.

I stepped over my parents legs to sit down between them and the Sanders after making my way through the ticket booth and crowds. They were all very focused on the game, and I looked down to open up my protein bar before looking at Evan on the mound. He had a two and one count against the second batter with one out, and the next pitch jammed the batter, resulting in a weak grounder to third. The third baseman took a step to his left and fielded it, tossing it to first and earning the out.

The crowd erupted in cheers, and Evan rushed at the third basemen with his hands up. Koa had Rachel wrapped in his arms and she was crying as she looked at the field, and it was only then that I noticed why they had been so focused on the field.

Will had made the play.

Will was at third base, in the middle of a crowd of his teammates, being celebrated for all of his hard work. I looked at my mom, "Why didn't you tell me?"

She hugged me, still screaming at the boys on the field and almost bursting my eardrum. "Oh, honey, we thought that you heard the announcer. He was talking all about it right before you came in."

I shook my head and covered my mouth in shock as I watched the field. The umps were smiling but gesturing for the boys to get back to their positions so that the game could continue. The crowd was slowly quieting down and sitting in their seats, providing me with an opportunity that I needed to take before I got too scared.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Will Sanders, I love you!" I shouted before immediately curling up into a ball and blushing. He looked straight ahead at the batter until a strike was called before turning towards me and playfully putting his hand over his mouth and blowing me a kiss. The people around me smiled and laughed, but it was worth my own public embarrassment. Geez, I should probably get on Sports Center for that, my publicist would be thrilled with me. 

Rachel nudged me. "You know, he was looking for you when he first walked out. We waved at him, but I could tell that he was really disappointed when he thought that you weren't coming."

One side of my mouth lifted in a half smile. "I'm really sorry I missed it. It would have been special. I just can't believe that he's playing right now."

She smiled and nodded, tears still threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. "Did he mention anything about playing to you recently?" I pressed, still slightly in shock.

"No, I mean he said that he was practicing, but after he didn't play in the first five games we figured that was the answer. He never said anything differently, probably so that he didn't get our hopes up, but I kind of gave up on the idea. Apparently Will tried to get Noah to come to this game, but Noah said that he had to meet with a group-mate about something. I called him as soon as Will was on the field though, so he should be here soon."

Noah showed up for the next inning, and his parents slid down so that he could take the spot next to me. The minute that he sat down, UCLA put down a bunt right on the third base line. Will got a late jump on it and wasn't fast enough to get the play at first, allowing another runner to advance to second.

"He would have made that last year," Noah winced.

I had the same thought myself, but was attempting to focus on the fact that it was great that Will was out there to miss a play. The shortstop went over to him and patted Will's back with his glove, saying something in his ear. Will nodded and went back to his position, tugging on his hat and smoothing the dirt with his cleats.

Thankfully, the next few innings went by without incident. Nolan Bellinger was up for UCLA, and he was currently one of the top players in the country. Major League teams were salivating over him, and while Evan had kept him to singles when he was on the mound, a reliever was now in the game for UH.

Nolan stepped into the left batters box and got comfortable, waiting for the first pitch of the inning. The pitcher wound up and ended up hanging a curveball right over the middle of the plate. The crack of the bat sounded and the ball went screaming out of the field over the opposite field fence. The young baseball legend trotted around the bases, hyping up his teammates as he rounded third.

I glanced around the stadium to see if his girlfriend, a famous collegiate volleyball player, was also in attendance. We had briefly met the year before, and she seemed like an interesting character.

I spotted her sitting by UCLA's dugout, her long brown hair falling over a sweatshirt with what was probably a designer brand on the front. I wouldn't know the brand, but Viviana seemed like the type to break out her high end clothing on occasions when she wasn't in spandex and a jersey. She cheered for Nolan after his home run, but started scrolling through her phone after the Bruins got three outs. That put UCLA up one to zero, which was surprisingly tight for differential in ranking between the two schools.

I walked around the stadium to the opposite dugout, pausing when I reached Viviana's section. The seat next to her was empty, and the people on the other side to her seemed to be unrelated to her.

"Viviana Yelich?"

The first look that she gave me was one that clearly showed her disinterest in talking to random people. She raised her eyebrows, as if to ask why I was approaching her, before appearing to recognize me and smiling slightly.

"I'm River, we met a year or so ago I think," I added.

"Yeah, the surfer! I remember now," Viviana smiled and relaxed a little. "Sorry if I seemed aggressive, a lot of people come up to me because of my parents. You can call me Viv, though."

I laughed a little and sat in the seat next to her. "And they come up to you because you're you, probably. I heard the olympic rumors after we met that other time. Bit of a sand volleyball legend yourself."

She shrugged and looked at Nolan at shortstop, but I could tell that she was pleased to have her skill recognized. And I wasn't making it up-- news spread around olympic circles of all sports like wildfire. I wouldn't mind a spot on Team USA myself, but she had hers on lock.

"Are you playing out here again, or did you travel for the game?" I asked.

"Bit of both, checking out the school," She said, waving in the general direction of the University of Hawaii campus.

"It's a good place to be," I answered. We talked about college athletics and the difference between school and pro. It was funny talking to another female in a different sport, because most athletes that I knew were surfers or baseball players. Professional womens sports were a whole different world in terms of pay, performance, and living conditions. Not to mention the fight for recognition.

UCLA still led one to zero through the top of the ninth inning, giving Hawaii one last chance to come back. Hawaii was towards the bottom of the order, with the fifth batter leading off. Evan was in the six spot because he has somehow managed to prove himself to be a good contact hitter even as a pitcher. The first batter hit a grounder between third and short, landing himself on first. Evan was up now, and he needed to push the runner over.

After a ball outside, the second pitch that Evan got was a strike on the inside corner. He swung and it jammed him, but he managed to drop it into short left field for a single, pushing the other runner to second. The next batter hit a line drive into right, and the right fielder made a diving catch on the foul line for the second out. Evan tagged up at first and sprinted to second base, sliding smoothly into the bag before Nolan could land the tag on him. There was now a runner on second and third with one out.

Viv rested her elbows on the seat back in front of her and groaned quietly into her hands. After the next batter struck out in three pitches, she smiled and relaxed slightly. Two outs. I leaned back and picked at my fingernails as Will made his way into the batter's box. He adjusted his batting gloves before settling in and starting down the pitcher. I held my breath as the first pitch skimmed the outside corner for a strike. With two outs in the last inning, it was now or never.

The UH third base coach yelled some encouragement and clapped his hands. I curved the brim of my baseball cap aggressively and studied Will, who was still stone-faced in the box. Evan took his lead off second, and the pitcher fired another pitch into the zone. Will swung, but managed to foul it straight back. He was on it, but now in a two-oh hole.

The catcher gave the sign for the next pitch, and the catcher threw a diving off-speed curveball. Will started to swing but checked himself, causing the UCLA catcher to check with the ump to make sure that he didn't go.

"Safe," declared the umpire, signaling with his arms.

"You have got to be kidding me," Viv sighed, pushing her sunglasses over her eyes.

I smiled slightly and Evan clapped as the UH bench began to get hyped. The next pitch was the fastest, at ninety-five miles an hour, but Will was on it. The whole stadium was quiet as we watched the ball soar towards left center. Two outfielders were hauling out to it, but it had split them perfectly. The ball bounced just short of the fence while Will ran hard to second base. He stood tall on the bag as the center fielder threw home to try and catch Evan.

My brother slid into home plate face first, smoothly gliding in before the tag was placed. He stood up and raised his arms as the stadium erupted in cheers before rushing to meet Will for the second time this game. 

"So, that's your best friend, huh?" Viv asked with a raised eyebrow.

I couldn't contain my grin. "Moved his way up to boyfriend, actually."

She smiled slightly. "Congrats. And I'm sorry to hear about his accident. When the news hit my dad told me that he was a great prospect, he manages the Dodgers and would have loved to have him in a few years.

My smile slipped a little, but I fought to keep it up. "Thanks, I should probably go catch up with him now though."

"Yeah, I have a dramatic loser to go console," she laughed, "See you around, and good luck with everything."

"You too, have fun at those olympics," I waved before setting off through the crowds to find Will and Evan.

He was already at the fence with Evan and our families when I made it back to the third base side. Will looked up and caught my eye with a grin and stepped out of the circle to meet me a few feet away.

I ran the last few feet to the waist-high fence that separated the stands from the field. He pulled me halfway over it and I crashed my lips into his, laughing a little when our noses briefly collided. He wrapped his arms closer around me and lifted me up so that I was sitting on the wall.

"I love you, Will," I whispered into his ear when we stopped to catch our breath. He was still panting from the excitement, and I could feel his heart pounding.

"I love you too, River," he answered, leaning back for a second to flip my hat around backwards and kiss me on the forehead. "I love you a lot more than you know."

Can someone tell me why my last chapter has like 117 reads and the ones before have like 50??? I ain't upset but something does not make sense there.

Also I said I was going to update a lot on break but then I got a job hahaha so I didn't, my bad my dudes. Here's 2300 words of baseball to make up for it, so I hope you like baseball :) Love you all and thanks for reading, be back soon.