The Home Run

Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning tangled in Alex's arms. I smiled thinking about the old times. Before I knew what I was doing my thumb was softly rubbing his jaw. I noticed he smiled and pulled me closer to his body. He opened his eyes and kissed my forehead "I love you" he told me and I smiled. My stomach had butterflies and I couldn't help it. I leaned up and kissed his forehead and he started laughing. "Good morning you two." Jessica announced as she walked in. I quickly pulled away from alex and sat up. "I'm just here to check everything one last time before you get the paperwork done" she told alex. She checked everything and it came back normal except for a little pain. She left and returned with all of the discharge paperwork and the medicine alex needed. We thanked her once again as she left. "Looks like I don't have a shirt to wear" he said as he checked his bag with his clothes "I might have one at my house" I told him and instantly felt embarrassed but he didn't reply. I helped him out of the bed and walked out to my car. Once we were ready I drove to my apartment.

Once I parked the car I helped Alex out and we walked inside. My mom was sitting on the couch watching tv when we walked in. "Oh my god, Alex?" She asked and stood up and ran over to us. "Hey" he smiled and hugged her "how are you?" She asked as they walked over to the couch and I disappeared into my room. I walked over to my dresser and opened the drawer I only open whenever I'm upset. I grabbed one of Alex's old shirts and walked back into the living room. My mom and Alex were talking like they were best friends. I smiled and cleared my throat. They looked at me confused until alex saw the shirt. He stood up and slowly made his way over to me. "You kept it?" He asked taking the shirt from me "don't make fun of me" i told him "i wasn't" he smiled and walked into my room. I followed him and watched as he looked around. "your mom almost murdered me" he told me as he removed the hospital gown and put on the shirt. "it seemed like you two were getting along" i replied "yea but at the beginning she was completely different" he laughed and turned around to look in the mirror "its a little small but it works. Thanks " he smiled as he looked at me in the reflection "no problem" i replied. As he walked back into the living room while i changed into actual clothes. once i was done i joined them on the couch. "so you're going on a date?" my mom asked and i looked at alex "well it's-" i started to say but i was cut off "you don't have to explain anything to me honey. You two have history" my mom told me and I silently thanked her.

A few hours later alex and i left to go to dinner. "so where are we going?" he asked as i drove the car through the streets of Boston. "there's a good Italian place down the street" i told him as i continued driving "it's weird seeing you drive around. I was always the one driving" he announced as i stopped at a red light "a lot has changed since then" i told him "i know" he replied. A few minutes passed and i pulled up to the restaurant and parked the car. We went inside and sat at one of the tables. I ordered the eggplant parmigiana and Alex ordered the manicotti.

While we waited for the food we stared talking. "So whats changed? Did your dad retire? Your mom said she's still working and she might move back to Michigan" he asked "my dad still coaches at school and my mom is supposed to move back in a few months." i told him "and what about you?" he asked "you already know about my nonexistent sex life and that i don't have a boyfriend" i told him "yea but i want to know about you. Not about all of that" he replied "uhm. Well after you left things weren't great. We've already talked about that. But Madison and Brooklyn helped me. I threw myself back into school and kept working on my goals. I went to med school and wanted to drop out every day. I hated it. I mean i loved my classes and everything i was leaning but it was so hard, the professors were so strict and they didn't accept any excuses. I barely got any sleep but i did it" i told him "that's what i wanted for you. I wanted you to get through school and get to where you are today. I'm so happy for you" he smiled just as pur food arrived. "what about you? Hows your family?" i asked "they're good. My dad finally got off my back once he realized I actually have a career with baseball. My mom is still amazing" he smiled "Chris is becoming an old man, pauline got engaged last year and i couldnt be happier for her. Ronnie is a lawyer but he is trying to go back to school to become an accountant" he smiled "you know Brooklyn and jack moved to Washington?" he asked "yea, Brooklyn told me" i said before i took a bite "this is so good" he amiled as he ate his food, i nodded in response.

After we ate and continued to talk about what happened in the last six years i learned about all of alexs new friends and how amazing they were. Well they sounded amazing. He told me about a guy named Kevin who went to went to school in San Francisco in order to become a mechanic but he didn't care about that so he mostly focused on baseball. He also told me about a guy named josh who played in the minor league right after high school and he got drafted to the Washington Nationals a few years later.

We decided to exchange numbers so we can keep in contact while he's 9 hours away. Then I drove him to his hotel and dropped him off and made my way back home.

As soon as i walked inside my mom bombarded me with questions. "where did you guys go? Did you catch up? Are you ok?" she quickly asked "we went to eat at that Italian place, yes we talked and yes I'm fine" i told her as i sat down on the couch. "did you guys talk about-" she asked "yes we talked about the baby, i didnt know he struggled so much. But i guess i was only focused on myself and not anybody else." i told her as i took off my shoes. Neither of us said anything for a while so i decided to break the tension "he asked me to marry him" i sighed "he what?" she gasped and stood in front of me. "he asked me to marry him while we were at the hospital. I told him I'd think about it. I don't want to marry him, i want to date before i decide anything but hes too far away" i groaned "have you thought about long distance?" she asked "not really, i don't know what to do. I was fine and then he came back and i have so many mixed emotions. I don't want to see him again but at the same time i want to spend the rest of my life with him. Ugh why is every thing so difficult?" i asked and i stood up, suddenly my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw it was Alex. I walked into my room and sat down. "hello?" i answered it "hey, i wanted to hear your voice" he replied "you saw me not even an hour ago" i laughed "yea but i can't stop thinking about you" he told me which made me smile. "What are you doing?" He asked "nothing, What are you doing?" I replied "I'm on my way to the airport, which sucks. I wish I could stay longer" he sighed "yea but we will see each other again one day I'm sure" I said as I laid down. "Yea but that's not soon enough. I really want to try to get us back to how we were" he confessed "I don't think we can go back alex. We should just move forward" I suggested "wait are you agreeing to try with me?" He asked "I guess I am" I told him as I laid down on the bed "I wish I wasn't leaving. I just want to be with you" he replied "promise me you will take care of yourself. You need to rest so your body can heal" I told him "I will. I'll stay home in bed and only move to get food and go to the bathroom" he laughed "I'm serious alex. If you don't you won't heal as fast and you definitely don't need a lot of scar tissue" I told him "I will I promise" he replied

We continued talking until he boarded the plane, then we had to hang up. I decided to call it a night and go to sleep.