When Dust Flies [a Sandlot Fanfiction]

breakfast blues

i walked with benny to the diner, practically dragging him behind me. benny had gone from "the jet" to "the slug" in a matter of minutes this morning, and it was really starting to bug me. we entered the familiar diner and took our usual seats at the booth by the window. 

the waitress handed us our menus with a sweet but practiced smile and i began to look it over, already knowing what i was going to order. benny just stared at his with an empty gaze, the gloom of losing this morning's ball still hanging over him.

"i think i'm gonna just get some pancakes and eggs. what about you benny?" i asked, trying not to feed into his gloom. he just shrugged and pushed the menu aside. "i'll have the same, i guess," he breathed out, leaning back against the booth seat. 

"great! i'll make sure to order mine with extra whipped cream and fudge sauce, then," i cheered, earning a faint but noticeable smile from benny. after we placed our orders with the waitress, i leaned forward and reached across the small dining table and took benny's hands into my own.

"you know you didn't ruin our game today, right?" i started, earning an annoyed sigh from benny. "i mean it," i continued, "the guys admire you for god's sake! any time you hit a homer, even if it goes over to the beast, is incredible. they love seein' that shit, benny!"

he looked down at the table top, then back up at me. "i know, i know. i just... hate when i can't play, especially when it's my fault. i can't help but feel awful whenever it's my fault that we can't play anymore," he spoke, his voice sounding slightly defeated in a way. 

i just nodded in response. "well, how 'bout this? whenever you crack an incredible homer, even if it goes over to the beast's yard, we all chip in a few cents toward our baseball funds? i'm sure the guys wouldn't mind if it meant we could have more baseballs to use," i suggested, "plus it'll give you an incentive to control your batting strength, too."

i watched as he thought my proposition over, eventually earning a nod and a half smile from him. "sounds good, we can propose it to the guys tomorrow morning," he spoke, a bit of confidence returning to his voice. 

right as our conversation ended, the waitress set our breakfast down on the table for us. benny looked down at his pancakes and laughed, seeing that there was a smiley face drawn on with whipped cream. he didn't realize that i had requested his to have a face on it to cheer him up when we ordered, thankfully.

we ate in silence, looking up and smiling at each other every once in awhile. once we finished, i paid and we walked out of the diner hand in hand. "where to now?" i asked, looking up at benny. "i gotta stop by the convenience store if you wanna come with me," he replied, to which i nodded. we walked down the street to the small store, parting ways as we both looked around for different things. I just browsed around as i waited for benny to buy whatever it was he needed to buy.

after about five minutes, i spotted him at the front counter and met up with him, peeking over his shoulder to see three brand new baseballs. he paid for them and we left, a small smile on my lips. i didn't ask him about it, for i knew he still felt bad even after we made our deal.  

"you're a good guy, benny," was all i said as he walked me back to my house for the day. 

A/N: sorry this chapter is a bit short! i'm still trying my best to get back into writing my stories again :) next up on my list is updating my breakfast club fic, so stay tuned for that! 

stay safe everyone!!