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[at-lilbot]

take me out to the ball game

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Pairing: Hunter|The Golden Guard/Willow Park

Rating: Gen

Status: Complete

Summary: Hunter isn’t a sports guy. And he definitely isn’t the going out type. But after Luz gives him a ticket to her first major league game, he can’t refuse. What he doesn’t expect is having to sit next to his sister’s best friend, who is undeniably the prettiest person he has ever met.

READ BELOW:

Hunter is not a sports person.

If anybody asked him what he’d rather be doing at this exact moment, he would say birdwatching or reading, but sitting in the middle of a baseball stadium, watching a game is not one of them. Sure he works out daily but that’s standard regiment for a healthy lifestyle, it has nothing to do with enjoying watching other people play games with convoluted rules. But being the good big brother he is, he comes to watch his little sister, Luz, in her first major league game, supporting her through thick and thin.

Leaning forward in his seat, he rests his elbows on his knees, watching the green expanse of the pitch below him. Luz had mentioned that she gave another ticket to her best friend and they would be seated next to him. Admittedly, he had never met any of Luz’s friends besides her current girlfriend, as he’s usually away at college, so who exactly he will be sitting next to is a mystery to him. He doubts that they’ll be awful or obnoxious, but they’ll definitely be new, and that’s a scary idea – he’s not exactly a people person.

Hopefully they’ll keep to themselves, and he can watch the game in his own contained bubble in complete silence, with no awkward small talk. God, does he hate small talk.

His fingers begin to fiddle with one another in anticipation, he is definitely going to have a word with Luz for seating him next to a complete stranger instead of their mother. Hunter goes over all the different ways he’s going ways he’s going to confront his sister, when suddenly he sees a pair of tan freckled hands latch themselves on the plastic backing of the seat. When he looks up, he finds himself lost in eyes of evergreen.

“Hey, is this seat taken?”

Even her voice is enchanting, like the soft whistling of the wind or the first chorus of dawn, and Hunter can’t help the heat rising to his cheeks.

She’s a pretty girl made of soft curves and lines, her dark curly hair tied in puffs, her pretty emerald eyes accented by a pair of round glasses. He can’t help but stare at her eyes, the kaleidoscopic shades of green captured in her irises reminding him of his long forest jogs he does every morning – his time of calm and peace.

He had never been good at talking to girls, people would approach him and he would talk to them kindly and only after their interactions would he realise that they were flirting. Luz had caught these moments many times and she would tease him to death about his obliviousness (not that she was any better – maybe its hereditary).

But now, standing right in front of him is the perfect chance to talk to one, and maybe even make the first move. All those hopeful thoughts drop to the pit of his stomach when he remembers that he is meant to be waiting for Luz’s friend, and that the seat is reserved for them.

His mouth begins to feel dry, and he realises that he had been gaping the whole time. Hunter quickly closes his mouth, and opens it again to speak, “I-uhm, I’m ah- this seat is reserved.“

She giggles. “I know, all the seats are, I was just trying to break the ice.” She takes her place next to Hunter and stretches out a hand. “Hunter, right?”

Hunter takes her hand and shakes it, noting down her firm grip, “Yeah. Luz didn’t mention your name, she didn’t really tell me much.” He admits.

“It’s fine, she’s been … occupied. But I’m Willow.” She offers him a small smile and his heart soars. “The feeling’s mutual though, I didn’t know Luz had a brother until she gave me this ticket.”

“It’s a fairly new development.”

Willow raises an eyebrow. “What, being her brother? Aren’t you older than her?”

Hunter laughs at this. “Yeah, I am. I’m adopted though. We’re still biologically related, we’re actually cousins, but stuff went down with my bio dad, and well Camila has been more of a mother to me than he ever has.”

“Ah.” Willow says thoughtfully, her eyes pointing to the sky.

Hunter hums, and sinks further into his seat, “It’s a little complicated but technicality or not, she is still my sister.”

“Naturally.” Willow agrees, a smile on her lips. “So how come you’re all the way here in the nosebleed seats instead of the box?”

“Luz only had two seats in the box since she’s a newbie, one went to my Mama and the other went to - “

Almost as if she was summoned by his thoughts, a head of lavender hair can be seen in the distance, she is leaning over the railing of the box, chatting amicably with his sister, a bright blush on both their cheeks.

“Amity.” He says ruefully at the same time as Willow, though her tone is much more chirpy.

He turns to Willow, a look of shock on his features, “How do you know Amity?”

“Ha!” Willow throws her head back, a low laugh emitting from her lips, “How do I know Amity?! I knew Amity before Amity knew Amity, we’ve been friends forever. I’m the whole reason Luz and Amity haven’t chewed each other’s heads off all those years.”

“Ah, so you’re the she-devil that introduced them!” Hunter says playfully, secretly surprised by the amount of confidence he displayed.

“What can I say? I’m basically Cupid’s apprentice.”

“A match made in Hell, Luz will not stop talking about her.” Hunter coughs, his voice turning into a mock falsetto to imitate Luz, his arms waving around in emphasis, “Amity is so great and pretty, her hair is like cotton candy! Hunter have you seen Amity’s arms, no wonder she can throw so far! Hunter, Amity kissed me today. Hunter, Amity got a new lip-gloss, Amity this, Amity that-“

With a final mocking bat of his eyelashes, Willow begins to laugh – it’s a hearty laugh coming from her belly, and Hunter decides in that moment that he’d like to make Willow laugh like that again.

“If you think that’s bad, imagine being on the other end and listening to Amity gush about Luz. You’ve heard of the lesbian disaster but Amity is the epitome of that, no, she is the Goddess, the Messiah of Lesbian disasters.” Willow dramatically sighs and clasps her hands together, a lovesick smile gracing her face. “She winked at me Willow, winked at me! How am I supposed to concentrate when she is being cute, she is so infuriating! Willow, I kissed her and she kissed me back, I think I’m in love! Is it too soon if we move in together right now, I’m already looking at apartments, I’m thinking we should have ten kids!”

“She did not say that.”

Willow smirks, its mischievous and knowing, “No, she didn’t but at the rate she’s moving, she might have.”

Hunter laughs, and Willow joins him. After a few minutes he cranes his head forward, only just catching Amity pulling Luz in closer by the collar and kissing her.

“How much do you wanna bet that that’s their ‘good luck’ kiss?” Willow snickers, her breath hot on his skin, her voice caressing the shell of his ear.

“I would bet all the money in the world if I could. They’re just saps like that.” Hunter rolls his eyes and groans as he sees Luz pull her in closer by the waist, deepening their kiss even further. Every bone in his body is screaming at him to just tell them to ‘get a room’ but he decides against it, knowing that he hates public attention. Instead, he just frowns at their public displays of affection, “I’m still salty that she got the box ticket and not me, I mean I’ve been supporting her since we were kids! She hated Amity until 4 months ago.” He pouts.

“I mean, Luz is whipped, and Amity kisses her like that, so I can’t fully blame her. Still sucks though, but at least you got me.” Willow stands up and cups her hands around her mouth – what comes next makes Hunter think she can rean his mind. “Get a room you two!” She shouts at the top of her lungs and Hunter swears that he sees sparkles emanating from her skin.

Amity turns around from the distance and searches the crowd, once her eyes land on Willow, she flips her the finger. Willow sticks out her tongue and returns the favour, flipping her off as well. In a swift motion, she falls back into her seat laughing. Hunter thinks that he’s never met anybody so amazing, so beautiful.

It’s not long before the game starts, Amity has taken her place next to Camila and both of them chat to one another. Hunter and Willow talk about miscellaneous things, in a loop of conversation that comes easily to the both of them.

Whenever Luz is batting, they both stand, hands gripping against the railing until their knuckles go white. They cheer loudly, their throats going raspy and hoarse as a result. Luz is an amazing batter, the ball goes flying across the stadium at high speeds, falling into the crowd opposite them. Hunter watches as her sister runs base to base, a prideful grin on her lips. This is her moment, the crowd cheering as she makes a home run. Hunter can’t help but feel happy for Luz, she had been working so hard for this and she’s now here. Willow is screaming equally as loud next to him, her cheeks red from the volume.

After a few more plays, the umpire raises his hands to indicate a timeout, their blue shirt a stark contrast against the green faux grass. People around him start to get up, stretching their legs, others make their way to the food vendors, deciding to get a snack. Hunter decides to stay in his seat, not bothering to go through the effort of getting up just to search for his seat later on.

Hunter turns his head to the side and sees Willow still seated, “You not getting up?” he asks.

“Nah, I’m good here.” She says with a smile.

Hunter leans back into his seat, watching the players mill into their respective boxes like worker ants. “I actually think that the Hexside Witches are going to win this year.” He muses.

“Definitely, either them or the Banshees. They might be dating but I doubt Amity is going to take it easy on Luz.”

“That would be a scary match. I’ve played Mario Kart with both of them, and that is too much competitiveness in one room.” He shivers, brief memories of a broken vase and accusations of cheating echoing in his head. “I think that every other team would be in trouble if they were on the same team. Now that’s a power duo you don’t want to mess with.”

Willow hums in agreement. She’s about to say something but is interrupted by music blaring from the speakers. ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer starts to play, and Hunter can feel his eyes roll to the back of his head. The Kiss Cam is quite frankly one of the most ridiculous inventions in mankind, its tasteless and tacky and just a way to rake in the views – Hunter absolutely abhors it.

Willow leans in closer to him, “So who do you think is going to be the poor souls of the kiss cam?”

“Honestly it can be anyone,” Hunter replies, watching the jumbotron display a pink background with multiple red hearts fading in and out of the screen. “I hope its someone with a sign saying ‘he’s gay’ or ‘she’s gay’ just for the fun of it.”

“Are you gay?”

“Bi.” he responds absentmindedly.

“I’m Pan,” she says somewhat comfortingly, and Hunter can feel his heartrate begin to increase.

The camera begins to search for it’s first victim, zooming across the audience, it lands on an elderly couple. Animated hearts frame their faces, expanding and popping before repeating as the couple lean into each other to share a single chaste kiss. Several ‘awhs’ can be heard throughout the audience with even a few wolf-whistles. It’s sweet, Hunter begrudgingly admits, and it’s a warm, loving idea to grow old alongside someone. He’s never really thought about growing old next to someone but the idea becomes more alluring the more he thinks about it, especially sitting next to a beautiful girl with a mirthful smile.

Hunter mentally zones out, the images of the next few couples blurring in his mind. There are a few rejections, as expected, but they aren’t as comical as he hoped. He doesn’t realise the crowd cheering around him until he feels a warm hand above his.

“Hunter. We’re on the screen.”

Hunter looks at Willow and her cheeks are dusted a pretty pink. She looks bashful, different from the confident, almost cocky smiles she had earlier. Her smile now is gentle, tentative, shy. And eyes, her amazing, beautiful eyes, are wavering, shining beneath his gaze. He wants to cup her face and hold her close.

Suddenly her words begin to sink into his consciousness. He blinks rapidly, “What do you mean?”

Willow raises a finger and points it to the jumbotron. On the screen, their faces are clearly displayed in crisp HD. Around them, the crowd cheers, coaxing them to kiss. Heat rises to his cheeks, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. He had never kissed anybody, ever. And now he is expected to kiss the most amazing girl ever in front of a whole crowd. His heart palpitates in his chest, thrumming against his ribcage like a rabid animal.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.” She says quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Willow thinks that he’s rejecting her, but how can anybody do that? Who could ever deny this sweet, beautiful girl. Hunter swallows the lump in his throat, and shakes his head.

“No.” He says firmly, his hands coming up shakily to cup her face, “I want to.”

She leans into his hands and he can feel his heartbeat in his ears, blood rushing fervently around his body. He leans in slightly, close enough that their foreheads touch. “Can I?” He asks softly.

“Yes.”

He closes the gap between them, timidly placing his lips against hers. The world around him fades away and quietens, if people are cheering, he can’t hear them. All his focus is on Willow, and her velveteen lips on his, perfectly moulded against one another. He feels her pulling him closer and his mind fuzzes into static, a sense of electricity on his fingertips.

They pull apart after a while and when he looks up, he sees that their face is no longer plastered on the jumbotron. A blush rises to his cheeks, but he is comforted by the fact that Willow’s face is matching his.

He begins, “That was uh-“

“Good. That was good.” She finishes, clearly flushed.

“Mhm.” He squeaks. “I’ve never kissed anybody before.”

“Me neither.” She admits, “but it was good, I’m glad that it was you.”

“Me too. That was better that I could ever imagine.”

Willow smiles and interlaces their fingers. “Glad that you’re not in the box right now?”

“Super glad.” He returns the smile.

The game ends after a couple of hours, and the Hexside Banshees reign victorious. Not only is Luz an excellent batter, but she is an amazing right fielder, catching far balls from the opposing batters. She is raised up by the other players as they praise her and Hunter imprints to memory the massive grin on his sister’s face.

All the other members of the crowd have started to make their way out of the stadium, but Hunter remains in his seat, a big lovesick smile on his face as he sees that their hands are still intertwined with one another. Luz is definitely going to tease him about this later when they get home, but he finds that he doesn’t really care. He got to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world and he is still holding hands with her.

Maybe sports games aren’t terrible, and maybe after all, Hunter is a sports guy.