"here, put this on." trea tossed vanessa a shirt from his dresser. she slipped it on and took her hair out of the messy ponytail that it had been in. "i'm gonna run out of shirts."
"i'll get you some more." she told him.
"or you could give me back all of the ones you have."
"then i'd have no pajamas." vanessa argued.
"so what did you wear to bed before?"
she was quiet for a moment, "pajamas"
"well what happened to those?"
"well," she couldn't deny it. she loved taking his clothes. "your shirts are better."
"but you know i have to wear them still?"
"i like when they smell like you."
"what do i smell like?" the curious boy asked.
"like.." she thought for a moment., "i don't know. like trea."
"i smell like trea?"
"yeah."
"is that a compliment or are u just being weird."
"it's not weird. you just smell like... you."
"okay?" the confused boy slipped on his last shirt in the drawer. "this is my last one y'know."
"don't you have laundry?" she asked.
"can you at least give me back some of them?"
"we can trade!" vanessa said with a smile.
"it's my shirt?"
"yeah but it's mine now because it's in my possession."
"what do you want?"
"i'll give you three shirts for that white hoodie you always wear." she offered.
"deal," he opened the drawer above and pulled out a white nike sweatshirt. he tossed it onto the bed by vanessa. "now bring my shit back."
"yeah yeah," she rolled her eyes.
he turned around and stared at the girl for a moment. she smiled as their playlist played in the background.
"did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?" he said, sitting down next to her.
she stared back at him, "not really." she said, "just you."
"you are the most beautiful girl i've ever seen." said trea, pushing her messy hair behind her ear to uncover her face.
"are you just saying that because your my boyfriend and you have to think that?" she tilted her head to the left.
"of course not." he said, "i mean it." he leaned in and kissed her cheek. she blushed at the boy and smirked.
she leaned forward and fell into his lap. he ran his fingers through her hair as she closed her eyes.
"if i didn't think so i wouldn't have said it." he said to the girl.
"trea?" she whimpered softly. "i have to tell you something that you can't know."
"okay? what's wrong?" he asked.
"dave. he wants to retire." she told him, starting to tear up slightly.
"oh," he replied not really knowing what to say.
"he wants me to take over completely."
"that's amazing ness," trea said with a smile as he noticed her tears collecting in her eyes, then slowly down her face. she covered her face with she hands and shook her head. "what's wrong, my love ?"
"i cant." she sobbed. her shakey hands muffled her voice as she turned to face trea's stomach. "i'm still a girl. i'm hardly 25. how am i supposed to manage an entire team?"
it hurt trea to see her so distraught, especially about something that he knew she was more than capable of. his stomach sank as he could see how upset she was. "vanessa," he said to the girl on his lap. "of course you can manage this team. you are the strongest person i know. your caring, considerate, independent, and so smart. you're completely qualified."
"everyone's going to give you guys shit because i'm a girl."
"what are you talking about, that's part of the reason why the people love you!" he told her, "ever since you joined us, it hasn't been the same since. and now that you're here, i can't imagine baseball without you."
"but trea, you're going to become a free agent. have you forgotten? i cant leave you."
"i am going to do everything in my power to be here with you. everything. wether it's here in la or somewhere else. i'm not leaving your side." he said. she sat up and allowed trea to wipe away her tears. "i love you."
"i love you so much." her voice broke as she leaned her head on his shoulder. he grabbed her hand hand held it in his.
it was quiet. there was music playing, but it meant nothing. everything in the world stopped. stopped just for them.