How to Save A Life (Anthony Rizzo)

11- Compliments

Anthony

I wake up early one morning and lay in bed for a while. There was a little breeze coming in from my open window that made my curtains blow in and that made me smile. It was a beautiful May morning here in Chicago, perfect for a day game.

I roll out of bed and jump in the shower. I shave my face and make sure my hair looks nice, even though it's going to be under a hat. I pull on a pair of shorts and a t shirt and head out for breakfast.

I walk out to the kitchen expecting to see Clara there but she wasn't. There was a plate there full of all my favorite breakfast foods and a coffee but not her. I start to freak out because I wasn't really sure where she went, but she wouldn't make breakfast before going to do something that would be drastic to her life. That doesn't seem like something that happens right before she runs away or goes back to her ex. But me being me I still call her just to make sure everything is okay.

"Hey! Where are you" I ask as soon as she picks up.

"Well good morning to you too" she giggles.

"It would have been if you were here" I say.

"I'm fine Anthony, I promise. I'm about to walk up to the apartment right now" she claims.

I walk over to the door and open it up and I peek my head out of the doorway. I look one way and I don't see her. I turn the other way but I was not prepared for what I was about to see.

I drop my phone causing her to giggle as she approaches me. She stops once she's in front of me and I could hear myself breathing.

"Close your mouth why don't you" she teases and I just shake my head.

"What did you do" I ask.

"I figured it was a new chapter of my life and I should get new hair. That way I can move on and it's harder for him to find me. So I cut off 10 inches of my hair before donating it and dyed what I had left blonde" she explains.

"I can see that" I admit.

"Does it look bad" she questions.

"No" I nearly yell then bring it back once I realized how bad that sounded. "I mean... you look amazing. You could do no wrong. It's just when you said you were on your way up I was not expecting this" I explain.

"Well it's something I've been thinking about a lot. This way I can maybe move on and he can't recognize me as easily" she explains.

"You look stunning. I mean... you've always looked good. But I like the blonde" I admit.

"Thanks" she smiles.

She comes back inside and I grab my phone off the floor. She sits on the couch and I go to eat my breakfast. I watch her carefully as she finds something on tv to watch. She eventually finds sports center and they were talking about baseball. I see my picture pop up and start to groan.

"Can we watch something else" I wine.

"What's wrong, worried the camera adds ten pounds" she jokes.

"No, I just hate when people talk about me" I insist.

"Why? People say nothing but nice things about you" she claims.

"I know. But I would rather them just think I'm good then talk about it" I defend.

"You're a great guy Anthony, people are going to talk about it" she claims.

"I'd rather they not" I insist.

"Well I'm never going to stop talking about how great you are" she insists.

"Never" I smirk.

"Never."

After the afternoon game Farrah and Jon drop their kids off and so they could go out to dinner and have a date night. Clara still baby sat for them and I loved their kids so it was no problem having them come over to hang out.

Their oldest son was almost four years old now, his name is Hudson and he loooved Chicago. Mostly Clark the Cub, but he was having such a great time here so far. Loved the school and the guys on his dads team. And the second kid was a baby boy named Walker, he was a year and a half years old. They both were pretty great if you ask me and they loved hanging out with Clara, almost as much as I do.

"What happened to your hair" Hudson asks as he sits in Clara's lap. He plays with the hair that was resting on her shoulder.

"I cut it and colored it. What do you think" she asks him.

"I think you're really pretty" he smiles and I laugh.

"Well thank you. You're a handsome young man yourself" she replies. "What did you want to do for the next few hours" she questions.

"Can we play with Anthony" he asks.

"Why don't you ask him" she encourages.

He turns around in her lap and looks up at me.

"Anthony will you play with us" he asks. Even if I wanted to say no... how could I?

"Of course buddy" I assure him.

"I'm going to go get Walker fed and changed for bed then why don't you guys order some pizza and pick out a game to play" she suggests.

"I call trouble" Hudson cheers going to his bag to get the game out.

"I'm calling giordanos" I announce and we all break apart.

Clara changes Walker and feeds him his baby food and I get us a pizza. Hudson sets up the game and I join him in the living room.

"So are you and Clara together" he asks.

"Technically no" I say.

"But you live together" he asks.

"Yeah" I answer.

"Do you like each other" he questions.

"Well yeah" I admit.

"So then why aren't you together" he asks.

"It's a little bit more difficult than that" I defend.

"How so" he wonders.

"Clara... she's an amazing person. One of a kind. A person like that you can't just say you're together with. To be without someone like that... it's gotta be something special. I couldn't imagine how great it would feel to be able to say that a girl like that loves you. With her you gotta be careful, and not because you think she's weak or can't handle it, but because she deserves to be loved tenderly and held softly. I don't know, right now a relationship would be more of a problem than a solution. But I truly do believe we will be together some day, hopefully soon" I admit.

"Do you really think that" a soft voice asks and I turn around. I almost didn't recognize Clara standing there with her blonde hair now up in a pony tail. Her hair still decently long but defiantly not where it used to be.

"Well... yeah" I admit.

"So people can't talk about you but you can talk about me like that" she smirks.

"This is different" I defend.

"It's not" she laughs.

"If I let you compliment me can we play the game" I groan.

"Sure" she shrugs.

"Alright, lay it on me" I say.

"You are the sweetest guy I have ever met. And I'm really thankful I met you" she says and I start to blush.

"Are you done" I ask.

"For now" she winks.