Caught (completed) - brance

9

When I got home both my mom and my dad were sat on the porch with disappointment on their faces. Through the window I could see Amy peeking out at us. I sighed as I parked my bike against the side of the house and went up the steps. "Do you know how worried we were when we saw you weren't in your bed?!" My mom started by yelling at me.

I quietly let out a deep breath as walked with them inside. They continued to lecture me about how sneaking out is bad and all. Then my dad told me to go and get ready for baseball practice. I groaned, not feeling like doing anything, but I knew I couldn't tell them I was having a hangover or whatever cause I was fucking drugged.

I just complied and went upstairs to my room. As I was grabbing my uniform from my closet I heard quietly little footsteps walking in. I turned back and saw Amy standing there with a curious expression on her little face. "How was the party?" She asked me in a whisper.

I smiled as I walked over to her. "It was alright. Now, I need to go get ready for baseball, okay, Amy?" I patted the top of her head with my hand as she nodded.

Amy wandered back downstairs as I made my way to the bathroom. I sighed, locking the door behind me. For some reason the moment I entered I felt a bad feeling in my gut. I just shook it off and chalked it up to me just being uncomfortable since last night. I shimmied out of my tight shirt and put my top on, followed by my bottoms. My hair surprisingly wasn't as messy as I'd expect it to be. I put on deodorant, sprayed on some cologne, washed my face and headed out. Good as new.

The car ride to practice was quiet. My father and mother decided to drag my sister to watch my practice, mostly so they could keep any eye on both me and her. Her so she doesn't wander off and get kidnapped, and me so I don't 'sneak off'. It was crazy how one time I do something and I already lost their trust.

As I walked onto filed my coach paired me up with a dude named Luke. Luke had it out for me for some reason. He hated my guts. Often during games he'd try to trip me or do something to get me on the bench. It really pissed me off, but it never really worked. Luke had a stupid smirk on his face as we walked off to where coach had sent us to practice. Luke was practicing his pitching, and of course I was practicing batting.

Luke very hardly and very quickly tossed the ball towards my face. Thankfully I was quick too, and blocked it with my bat. "Try not to go for the face, dickwad," I scoffed at him. He just laughed and continued to do the same, maybe even rougher, every time he threw the baseball at me. Luke only quit when he went to get water, but I knew the moment he got back he'd do it again.

As I was waiting for Luke to get back I took a look around the area. Dirt, grass, fence, my family, Vance. Wait, Vance? I stared at Vance, who stared back at me. He just slightly smiled at me. I nodded my head towards my family and he nodded his head as well. I watched as he looked behind me, a concerned expression forming onto his face.

Though, when I turned around I was met with a baseball to the center of my face. It hit me right in the nose. "Ah, shit!" I yelled out as I felt back onto the dirt of the field. It hadn't even been 15 minutes into practice and Luke was already starting shit. Anger flowed over me as all the times he's tried to sabotage and hurt me repeated  in my mind. I stood up and just ran at him, tacking him to the ground.

Luke yelled out in pain when I slammed my fist into his face. "Not so nice is it, prick?!" I yelled at him. He of course fought back, punching me in my sides and my legs; just trying to hit me anywhere. I kneed him in the stomach, he scratched at my arms, I punched his face, he bit my fists. It was really back and forth. Him getting what he really wanted and me taking my pent up anger out on him.

The fighting between us only stopped when our Coach, Coach Jackson, pulled me off of him. He held me by the shoulders, looking me in the face with a stern expression. "Go clean up in the bathrooms over there," he nodded his head at the park's bathrooms before looking back at me, "and when you come back out we'll need to talk."

I just huffed, getting out of his grip and storming towards the bathroom. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, blood flowing from the bridge of my nose. The door to the bathroom creaked open and Vance walked in. "That was a hell of a fight out there, man," he chuckled, standing next to me.

"He fucking deserved it," I groaned, wetting a paper towel and trying to wipe away the blood. Vance just laughed, leaning against the wall and watching me. "God, he just had it coming for him. He's always tried sabotaging me."

Vance nodded his head, quietly staring at me. After a bit of silence he lifted himself off the wall, grabbing my wrist, stopping me from getting all the blood. "You're not wiping it right, dude," he told me grabbing a dry paper towel and roughly rubbing it on the temple of my head. After a few seconds he just held it in the same place and allowed me to hold it. "It doesn't feel like it didn't really do any damage, probably just broke your skin. You'll definitely have some bruising though."

I huffed, "great..more bruising." He smiled, softly laughing. The sound of his real laugh sent a weird feeling in my stomach. It wasn't a bad feeling but it was just weird. Not something I had really felt before.

I watched as he reached for another paper towel, this time dampening it in the sink. He then grabbed my hand, asking me to curl it into a fist. I listened and as I did my knuckles felt sore. They were cut up and red. This time Vance wasn't harsh with cleaning off the blood.

I stared at his own bruised face as he cleaned my knuckles. The bruises were fading away, and I knew they were from when he fought Moose for me. I wish that were the case for me, but now I had gotten myself more bruises.

That's when the thought of my family crossed my mind. Shit, I thought as I quickly realised they had just watch me tackle a kid for what could've looked like an accident to them. And poor Amy. Oh, poor Amy who just had to witness her brother get hit in the face and then start a fight. How stupid could I be?

"...so pretty," I heard Vance whisper under his breath, his words breaking me from my thoughts.

"Huh?"

Vance stared at me, and I could see some nervousness and a little fear in his eyes. "Nothin'," he said, looking away from me as his cheeks went pink. He threw away the paper towel and sat on the sink top.

Silence deafened the room and I contemplated on just walking out. But I didn't. I remained in the bathroom, feeling worried for what my family had to witness. "So...what did your mom say when you got home?" Vance asked.

For a second, I didn't understand the questions, but then it clicked. "Oh," I nodded, "they yelled at me for sneaking out. Now they're here watching cause they don't trust me." Vance nodded, seeming to understand it. "Was your mom mad a you sneaking out?" I asked.

Vance's face got warm and he looked away from me. "Nah," he shook his head, followed by a deep breath, "I don't..uhm..normally live with her." He started to kick his feet back and forth slightly as if he was nervous, which didn't help by his severe lack of eye contact.

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrows.

Vance went to speak again, but the door opened. I stepped towards Vance, since I was sort of in the way of the door. Though, I felt my stomach drop as I locked eye contact with my coach. It couldn't had been that long since I had left. I could see as my coach looked from me to Vance. He really did not like Vance.

To Coach Jackson, Vance was a mutt. To him he was a threat to the well being of his team. Every time he'd see Vance he'd always end up fighting with him to leave. "Bruce. What's he doing in here?" My coach asked.

"It ain't any of your business, sir," Vance said, hopping off the sink and standing on my left. He walked out of the bathroom, not another word.

My coach then pressed about it again, but I just chalked it up to finding him in there and us just having some small talk. "Don't talk to that kid anymore, okay, Bruce?" He requested. I slowly nodded my head and we walked out.