Confrontation

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"Rosa!" his voice echoed in the empty hallway, vibrating above the fading noise of the stadium in the background, deep and silvery, calling her the name in the way it often took her breath away and needless to say, it had been the only voice sufficient enough to cause a halt in her footsteps.

Tears streaming down her cheeks and smudging her war face paint were quickly wiped off with a sleeve too long for small hands before a small turn was made, petite figure facing him for what felt like the first time in forever. She didn't speak, she couldn't — but the red rimmed circles lining her indigo spheres spoke volumes of her pain.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice dropping volumes, grown soft and gentle against his own judgment — he was powerless under her gaze, and his weakness leaked in every move towards her; little did he know, she had been just as hopeless for him.

"I can't — " she began but her breath hitched, her voice tripped and she gasped struggling to catch air and find the sound and her words but as she began once again, her nervousness was displayed in a different manner altogether; words rushed and hasty, eager to get them off her chest before any hesitation could take over and knowing her own timid nature, it would come as no surprise if it did soon. "I can't just stand around and watch you throw away your whole career. I can't see you play this bad because —" her words were cut, instantly, an offended remark made by him as raven brows furrowed and silver hues gleamed with hurt and disappointment.

"And there I thought you'd be the only one still cheering me on" he knew his performance had slumped; his team mates had pointed it out and the coach wasn't very gentle about it either but to have her, his own personal cheer squad display of her negative opinion on his play had felt like a blow to his esteem and pride, causing the star player to doubt his own earlier decision to follow in her path.

Perhaps he had already damaged this beyond repair.

"I am cheering you on, Ace!!" she cried out, plea in her singsong voice as she begged with the remainder of her strength for him to understand her current disposition. "Don't you see? I will always cheer you on but I can't stand around and watch you destroy the biggest opportunity of your life, I can't stand knowing it's my fault you can't focus on the game — I've already ruined our friendship but I can't, I won't live with myself if I ruin this for you!! All these sponsors, they're here to watch The Pirates' Ace player win, they're here for you and you deserve that, god you deserve it so much — you don't have to love me but I will always care for you, and if cheering you on means I have to distance myself for you to play properly — then that's what I —"

"Damn, I love you" yet another interruption from his behalf, the confession slipping in an almost dazed state, against any and all his control, that for a moment neither could comprehended what had just been said. Awed beyond any words more than the mere three to slip his lips he had been. Struggling to understand how she could still care for him so much after all the hurt he's caused her; initially believing her decision to walk away had been to spare her own heart the agony but unable to fathom it had been him she was thinking of, even now, even despite everything.

"...what?" she asked, innocent and clueless but most of all hopeful and likewise broken. She was hanging by a thread on top of the tallest mountain and only his own words could either lift her to the peak of it or drop her to her doom.

He smiled faintly, sheepishly and shyly, a little boy caught red handed with nowhere to escape but to confess and pray his sins would be repented.

"You believed me so easily when I said I didn't, but seem so shocked when I say I do" words of a truthful observation would summon a flush of crimson to her tear stained cheek but rather than present the obvious argument of why she found the prior so easy to accept were dismissed to the back of her insecure mind, instead a question, requesting the truth had been her only response.

"Why...?" a single word but it spoke volumes on all the doubt racing through her mind, all the anxiety battling within both their hearts but mostly it spoke of the faintest remainder of hope fighting its way amidst all the questions and confusion.

"— because..." he hesitated, words caught in his throat and face dropping; it pained him far beyond he ever realized to admit what's been haunting his entire life: he wasn't worthy of love, and certainly not that of the angel standing before him, so close within his reach it had been taking every ounce of self restraint to not embrace her here and now, declare his love for her over again until she was all his for the taking. "Because I'm unworthy of you..." it was merely above a whisper but his cheerleader heard it loud and clear, shattering her heart all over again that she couldn't contain the tears streaming down her face all over again.

"...that's not true" she argued, head shaking so childishly in protest. "I love you, Ace, I love you — You are.. You can't just decide that.. I — "

"Someday, you're going to become a big star, so bright and talented away from this school hallway and you deserve someone better standing there by your side... you deserve someone who can treat you right" his words conflicted with his desire but had been honest nonetheless because as much as it pained him to admit, he truly wholeheartedly wished nothing more than for her to find the success and happiness she craved, the one he deemed her deserving of above all other.

"And you.. You are that person, Ace. My dreams, music, fame, none of it means anything without you. You are the one, it's you, it's always been you who inspired me — before I met you, I was too scared to even try out for cheerleading, Ace, can't you see? There's no one better, not for me... " her tone wavered between a frustrated attempt to make him realize her unwavering admiration for him and a loving softness to prove to him how deserving she deemed him.

Digits soft and hesitant extended to brush a strand of raven from freckled cheeks, trailing down to his lips which thinned into the faintest yet most loving smiles she'd ever seen him wear; involuntary her own mirrored them.

"I love you so much" she whispered but in the abandoned hallway her words seemed to echo for infinity, and how he wished he could play them on repeat.

"I love you too" he finally gave in, surrendering to his heart to her loving hands where he knew it would be kept safe and protected from all harm — he couldn't fight it anymore and frankly had been too exhausted from attempting to do so.

"I am going to become a famous singer, and I'm going to tour the world and perform at sold out arenas" she spoke with laughter and hope in her voice that he had missed. "But every night, every weekend, every chance, I am going to go home to my superstar basketball player boyfriend and we're going to laugh about how we finally made it, and you know what, I don't even care about that, I'll go home to my Ace, just Ace, no singing, no basketball, as long as we're together, it doesn't matter — this life, it's yours if you want it"

He was about to speak, to say yes to all she offered as there was nothing in the world he could wish for more but his parted lips were hushed by a single digit and a single final request.

"You don't have to give me an answer right away. You can do so after you win this game, because I know you are going to." vouch of confidence was more than sufficient enough to summon the widest of grins to his lips, adrenaline rushing through his veins to resume the match he had already given up on but perhaps, didn't have to anymore.

"Only if you cheer me on"

"Go get 'em, Pirate"

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