00:09I'm serious, Noah. You should have seen the coach's face when you framed that last pitch yesterday.
00:13He looked like he wanted to adopt you. Don't exaggerate. I just did my job.
00:19He never smiles like that when I'm around. Why is he letting Calum sit that close?
00:24Why does it feel like someone's stealing something that doesn't even belong to me yet?
00:28You know, if you keep playing like that, half the team is going to start asking your advice instead of
00:33the captain.
00:34Hi, Caleb. Don't mind if I join my favorite teammate, do you?
00:39Didn't realize the table was reserved. It is now.
00:42You could have just asked if the seat was free, captain, or is sitting on top of people part of
00:47your leadership style.
00:50Sharing is sharing, right, Noah?
00:52If you were hungry, Oliver, you could have just asked.
00:55Don't need to like a toddler stealing toys to get my attention.
00:59I'm not. I'm just sharing with my catcher, that's all.
01:03Yeah. Sharing. Sure.
01:06Next time you want something from me, captain, use your words, not your teeth.
01:10He didn't push me away. He didn't get angry.
01:12He just looked at me like he already understood exactly what I was doing.
01:14And somehow that made it worse.
01:16I'm going to get another drink, too.
01:18Try not to start a scene. No promises.
01:20I came over to remind him I existed.
01:22Instead, he reminded me how easily he could see straight through me.
01:25Oliver, Noah, you two are our primary battery today.
01:29Pitcher and catcher need to be in perfect sync.
01:31No clashing egos.
01:33Primary battery, like I need anyone calling my pitches.
01:42Fine. Let's see what you've got.
01:46But my eyes are caught on your stands.
01:49Dusting off your knees as you catch me.
01:53Starting on a certain second glance.
01:58Underneath the stadium lights.
02:01He didn't even French.
02:03Again. Trusted.
02:11He fights the sign at first.
02:13Then he throws it better than anyone I've ever catch.
02:17You're serious.
02:27That's the battery I wanted.
02:31You're reading me too easily.
02:34You're not hard to read when you stop fighting yourself.
02:37Most catchers just take what I give them.
02:40I'm not most catchers.
02:43No.
02:44You're not.
02:48It's infuriating how much control he has over my pitches
02:51and how much I already don't mind it.
03:04You're still here.
03:13You think you're pretty clever, don't you?
03:15Creeping into Oliver's space trying to steal his spotlight as the face of the team.
03:29I'm here to play baseball, Karina.
03:32If Oliver is distracted by me, that sounds like his problem, not yours.
03:36Don't play innocent.
03:37Everyone sees how he looks at you.
03:39You're not as quiet and harmless as you pretend to be.
03:41I don't control how other people look at me.
03:43And I don't owe you an explanation for existing on this team.
03:46Then maybe you should tell Oliver that yourself.
03:48I'm not the one who needs convincing.
03:50Enjoy the attention while it lasts, because it won't.
03:53I've dealt with worse than sharp words.
03:55People like her always talk the loudest when they feel something slipping away.
03:59I should have gone to him.
04:00I should have said something.
04:02Instead, I just stood there.
04:04Realizing that the thought of anyone trying to push him away
04:06made my chest ache in a way I didn't know how to name yet.
04:09When did his citrus scent start lingering in my mind?
04:14When did my eyes start tracing the outline of his lips
04:17every time he stands close in the dugout?
04:24I'm not afraid of him, and I'm not afraid of the world.
04:27But is this real?
04:29Or am I just misinterpreting his stubbornness?
04:33If I let his warrant pull me under,
04:35I need to know he's ready to stand the ground with me.
04:43People leave.
04:45That's the only pattern I've ever trusted.
04:48So why does part of me already want to believe he won't?
04:51I noticed him first.
04:54Not when he pressed that bottle to my face.
04:57Not when he leaned in too close.
05:00Before that, on the field.
05:03The way he carried the entire diamond like it belonged to him.
05:07I don't know how to want someone without preparing for the moment they walk away.
05:11If I open the door,
05:13will he still be standing there in the morning?
05:39Noah, can I sit?
05:41You're already pulling the chair out.
05:43Does it matter if I say no?
05:44I got this for you.
05:46It's an apology for being a jerk on the field and off it.
05:52The golden boy of the varsity team fighting freshen for the last strawberry milk?
05:55Your reputation is going to be ruined, Oliver.
05:57I don't care about the reputation.
05:58I care that you've been ignoring my signs during practice.
06:00Don't ignore me tomorrow.
06:01Please.
06:01You've been shaking off half my calls.
06:03That's not how battery works.
06:04I know.
06:05I was being stubborn.
06:06I didn't like how easily you could read me.
06:08You don't have to like it.
06:09You just have to trust it.
06:10If you can't trust your catcher, the whole game falls apart.
06:12It's not that I don't trust you.
06:13It's that when you look at me from behind the plate,
06:15it feels like you see too much, more than I want anyone to see.
06:18Then stop running from it.
06:19Tomorrow, you throw what I call.
06:21No shaking me off.
06:24Does that mean you're calling the game with me tomorrow?
06:26Only if you stop acting like a child every time I give you a sign you don't like.
06:32Thank you for not telling me to leave.
06:34You're welcome, Kat.
06:35Go.
06:35Some of us still have studying to do.
06:36He brought me strawberry milk and apology.
06:38It was small, almost childish.
06:39And somehow, it was the most honest thing he'd done since the day we met.
07:07This umbrella is way too small for both of us, Captain.
07:10Your whole left side is going to get soaked.
07:12Let it get wet.
07:14As long as you're covered, I don't care.
07:19He was completely drenched, yet he held on to me like I was the one who needed saving.
07:25Stupidly stubborn.
07:30I stayed behind the strap on my catcher's mitt.
07:33The rain made everything quieter, until it didn't.
07:42You're still here?
07:43The strap broke.
07:45I didn't want it to fail during practice tomorrow.
07:57Oliver, your heart is pounding.
08:01You're too heavy.
08:02Get up.
08:03I didn't mean to.
08:05He was right there, under me, looking up at me with those calm eyes.
08:09And I couldn't think straight anymore.
08:20Oliver.
08:27Ollie?
08:29What the hell are you doing on the floor with him?
08:31Karina!
08:32It's not...
08:33I just fell...
08:36I wanted to say something.
08:38Anything.
08:39But the look on his face told me I had already ruined it, before I even had the chance to
08:44make it real.
08:46I used to know exactly who I was.
08:48Now, I don't recognize the guy in the mirror.
08:51I've never questioned my feelings like this before.
08:54Looking at another man and feeling my chest ache.
08:56It scares me.
08:58But whatever this madness is, I don't want it to stop.
09:01I don't care about the reasons anymore.
09:04I just know that his heart belongs to me.
09:07And I will chase him until, until he realizes it, too.
09:13I told self I would find him today.
09:15I told myself I would be brave.
09:17But the second I stepped onto the field, the fear came back.
09:21Captain's in a good mood this morning.
09:23Why wouldn't I be?
09:24Tournament's getting closer.
09:25There he was.
09:26Looking the same as always.
09:28Like last night never happened.
09:29Like I hadn't kissed him and then acted like it was something to be ashamed of.
09:32I put the mask back on.
09:33The popular, untouchable captain.
09:35It was easier than facing the look he gave me when Karina walked in.
09:38He put the mask back on.
09:39The golden boy.
09:40Yesterday was just a glitch to him.
09:46Noah, about yesterday.
09:48Save it, Captain.
09:49Focus on your pitches.
09:50The tournament's coming up.
09:52He was worse.
09:53He was indifferent.
09:54And that hurt a thousand times more than if he had yelled at me.
09:56I gave him a chance to say something real.
09:58He chose the mask instead.
10:00I wasn't going to beg him to take it off.
10:01Captain?
10:02You good?
10:03Yeah.
10:04I'm fine.
10:05He's not going to wait for me forever.
10:07And the longer I hide behind this version of myself, the further he walks away.
10:18Noah.
10:19Can we talk?
10:20Please.
10:21If this is another version of save it, Captain, I'd rather not hear it.
10:24I'm sorry.
10:25For what happened in the locker room.
10:27For freezing when Karina walked in.
10:28And for acting like nothing happened the next day.
10:30That was cowardly.
10:31About Karina, we're not what people think.
10:33We've been seen together for a long time.
10:34And not everyone assumed we were together because it was convenient.
10:37It matched the image.
10:38Not the way I feel when I'm around you.
10:39They came out of nowhere and they got out of it a few times I see you.
10:41Every time you look at me like you see straight through me, it messes with my head.
10:44I don't know how to handle it yet.
10:45But I know it's real.
10:46You looked ashamed of me, of what we did.
10:49I wasn't ashamed of you.
10:50I was ashamed of myself.
10:52I've never felt something that strong for anyone before.
10:54Especially not for another guy.
10:55It scared the hell out of me.
10:56So I panic.
10:57And then I put the mask back on because it was easier than facing what I actually feel.
11:01I'm not asking you to trust me completely right now.
11:04I'm just asking for a chance to know you better.
11:06To show you that this isn't a game or a phase for me.
11:09He sounded sincere.
11:10But I've seen how the world looks at someone like him.
11:12Famous.
11:13Rich.
11:14The perfect straight captain everyone expects him to be.
11:17I need time.
11:18I need to see if you're serious.
11:19Or if this is just another feeling that got out of hand and will disappear when things get hard again.
11:23Okay, I'll give you time.
11:24But I'm not going to stop trying.
11:26Not this time.
11:27You want a chance.
11:28But you're still the guy everyone sees as straight as a pole.
11:30If this goes wrong, I'm the one who'll get hurt more.
11:33I'm the one who'll be left explaining himself.
11:35I know.
11:35And I hate that you're right to be careful.
11:37I don't have all the answers yet.
11:39I'm still figuring this out.
11:40But I don't want to figure it out without you.
11:42Part of me wanted to believe him.
11:43Part of me wanted to give him that chance.
11:45But another part kept asking the same question.
11:47Should I trust him or should I retreat before it's too late?
11:51He didn't say yes.
11:52But he also didn't say never.
11:54And for now, that was enough to keep me from giving up.
11:57Through the long and lonely nights.
11:59This is our home run.
12:01Can you feel it now?
12:04Every heartbeat of boring cry.
12:07Bow round the bases.
12:08Take a final bow.
12:11And bring this moment home somehow.
Comments