"The destroying of one, to satisfy the other"
Jane Newman was a photographer by nature, and when offered the opportunity to travel across the country with the girls' soccer team to photograph them for the yearbook, who was she to say no? Who cares i...
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For the few days that they'd been struggling to get by in the wilderness, Coach Ben Scott had to listen to the girls tell him time and time again how bad Misty Quigley had it for him, how big her crush was on him. Yet, as they stood in the middle of the woods, just the two of them as he tried to take a shit for the first time on one leg, in the middle of nowhere, with Misty holding him steady, he doubted for the first time that she liked him.
Misty was weird, nice he supposed, but weird enough to be the type that would try and watch, or maybe even offer to sing to help him along. She was creepy like that. But she wasn't doing any of those things; in fact, she seemed irritated by his very presence, the fact that she'd been stood beside him for the last ten munutes. He could almost feel her rollhing her eyes as she held hims steady, doing her best to ensure that he didn't fall.
"Just leave it." Ben muttered with a scowl, "I'll try again later."
"Okay." Misty was quick to agree, eager to get back to the cabin,
Ben was sure he was right. Misty didn't like him. But she did have a crush, and Ben didn't particularly care who she had it on, as long as it wasn't him.
He let her lead him back to the cabin in silence, her tiny frame supporting his much bigger one most of the way. He had to admit, Misty Quigley had her strengths. She'd been able to step in where he couldn't. He respected that. Then he saw it. The moon eyes that Misty was giving to Jane and it all clicked. Misty wasn't straight. Misty liked Jane.
He didn't have an issue with that. Hell, he was gay himself. What he did have an issue with however, was the fact that Misty looked at Jane with such a longing that he couldn't help but wonder just how far she'd go for an ounce of Jane's affection. It was strange, Misty's hand tightened around him, pulling him further onto her to make it look like she'd been lugging him through the woods. He watched as everyone marvelled at Misty, praising her for her strength, her skills. Yet, Misty's eyes never left Jane's. He watched in silence as they hobbled forward as Misty watched Jane, waiting for the praise from her lips. Something, anything that she could interpret as something akin to a crush, or even a faint dispel of liking.
"Wow...you practically carried him all this way?" Jane murmured softly amongst the chatter. It was quiet, almost too quiet, but Ben knew that Misty had heard her. Misty's eyes lit up, smiling over at Jane with a sweeter smile than he'd ever seen on her face. He knew what this was, he knew that any positive praise that Jane sent Misty's way would only be interpreted as flirting, and by the way that Misty was staring at Jane. Ben knew one thing, Misty thought she was flirting. Jane thought she was being nice. This was a bad situation, one that would take a turn for the worse if he didn't do something.
So he did the only thing he could think of. "Misty's always been so helpful. She always looks after me."
The silence that followed was deafening. The others looked at him like he'd grown a second head, like they couldn't believe that him, Coach Ben Scott may have a thing for Misty Quigley of all people. But Misty, she looked at him like she wanted to kill him then and there. He knew what he'd done. In Misty's eyes, he'd ruined any chance of a flirtation between her and her crush, but it was for the best...right? He really couldn't afford any complicated relationships out here. It was bad enough that Travis and Natalie seemed to have a thing going on, but Misty was weird, really weird and he wasn't 100% convinced that Misty would love, or even crush on Jane in a normal way. She seemed like the type to steal underwear and sniff them to remind herself of the smell of Jane, to feel closer to her. They couldn't afford that out here. He couldn't keep them seperate, not when Misty was treating them both, when she woke them up each morning, when she cleaned their wounds in the river. So if he had to convince Jane that Misty was in love with him to keep them apart...he would.
"She...she is?" Mari mumbled, raising a brow in confusion. It was clear that Mari couldn't understand why he of all people would let Misty attach herself to him, but this wasn't about him. Being a leader was about doing what was best for the good of the team. So he would do what was best for the good of the team, even if that meant letting the team think he liked his student, that him and Misty were in some kind of forbidden relationship. He had to protect them all and Jane, sweet, awkward little Jane was especially vunerable.
His students were beginning to adapt, it was good, really good that they weren't crumbling in this environment, but the smiles, the stares at Jane gave him the jitters. It made him feel like something wasn't right, and Coach Ben Scott, whilst being known for many things, he wasn't known for being a risk taker. He wasn't a risk taker when Paul had asked him to move with him. He wasn't a risk taker when he'd stayed at a job at a highschool in a small town for the last five years. And he certainly hadn't been a risk taker when he'd agreed to escort the yellowjackets to nationals instead of a lovely holiday with his boyfriend.
He did what was easy, not what was right. Every. Single. Time.
But now, in the wilderness with a dozen teenage girls and two boys, he would do what was right. He would protect the vunerable at all costs, even if it cost him his career when he got back. His livlihood. Someone needed to look after Jane, because one thing was for sure, she was certainly too naive to look after herself in this situation. It was like, she couldn't believe that someone wouldn't have her best interests at heart. But when it came down to it. He would. He'd look after her, because they were one and the same. He was as much her as she was him.
For once, he'd do the right thing, not the easy thing.
Sorry about such a sort chapter, I would write more but I'm very durnk rught now and i might rewrite it tomorrow...stary tuned. Love you guys. Also I'm back.
