We were walking home and 'Ham' was talking to Scotty about catching the ball

"If you pay attention, heck I'll show you some more tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Okay bye, you did good"

"See you later, Ham"

"Bye Benny!"

"Bye Smalls, see ya' Pretty boy"

I blushed at the nickname and felt a cheesy smile carve itself into my face

"Bye Benny"

Scotty and I walked towards his house but before we even got a few feet close to it he turned around and called Benny

"Benny, wait! Your glove!"

Benny paused but waved his hand carelessly

"Keep it, man"

"Thanks!"

He ran off towards his house excited to keep the glove

"Hey Scotty, wait up for me!"

I caught up to him and we walked in sync. We stopped when we heard a voice from behind us.

"Oh yeah Y/N, Smalls!"

I turned around along with Scott and walked towards Benny again. He approached us, squinting from the glaring setting sun.

"Um, bring a tee shirt and jeans tomorrow, okay Smalls?"

He nodded and Benny went to walk away but quickly turned around again

"Oh um, you got a fireplace?"

"Yeah, why?"

He looked around and then flicked Scott's hat

"Throw that hat in there, man"

I burst out of laughter and Scott punched my arm. After a little while, I stopped laughing and Scott had his arms crossed.

"Are you done?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm done, sorry"

He didn't say anything and he looked back at Benny.

"Well, it's the only one I have and-"

"Not anymore, wear my old hat. 8 o'clock tomorrow morning guys"

Benny gave him a Navy blue cap with green under it. He smiled at me and ran off towards his house.

"Thanks, Benny!"

He ran off without me again and hopped onto the stairs.

"Mom guess what!"

I sighed and shook my head, grinning at the small, excited boy. I was about to run after him but turned around and called out to Benny before he was completely gone.

"Benny!"

I ran over to him and he paused in his yard

"Hey, what you did for Scott was really cool of you. Thanks."

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. I slowly retreated back down the driveway, walking backward. His face dusted with a light pink and I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"N-no problem!"

I nodded and ran back over to Scott's house opening the closed door.

-

Ham was at bat and Benny was behind him. They made sure that I was pitching.

"Hamilton 'the babe' Porter"

I slightly laugh at that only because of the image that popped up in my head

"'Long ball' Porter"

"Okay stop"

Everyone laughed at me for stopping Ham

"Come on, Y/N. Hit me with everything you got"

Now I fully laughed. There is no way he's gonna hit this. I did what he asked and threw my hardest fastball and it completely missed him. It just barely landed in Benny's glove and everyone laughed at how slow he was.

"I didn't really mean it, jeez"

"Fine, I'll slow it down for you"

I teased him a little bit but threw a normal hardball and he hit it as hard as he could. The ball flew over the field and over the blue fence.

"Oh yeah, that's how you do it!"

"Ham, you idiot now we can't play no more!"

I walked over to Benny and he looked annoyed at Ham. I was slightly annoyed because no one had a ball and we couldn't play but I didn't let it get to me.

The boys chased Ham around the field hitting him with their gloves. I felt a hand on my lower back and I relaxed into it. I looked over at a smiling Benny which made my face get hot.

"Wait a sec, I'll get it!"

I turned my head to see Scott going to get the ball from the other side of the fence. I didn't think anything of it until Squints started screaming, then everyone started screaming 'No!' At Scott but for what? They ran as fast as they could towards him. I followed them to get answers. Benny in the lead looked serious so this must be something. Right?

I ran next to Benny and stopped at the fence

"Guys what are you-"

The guys caught up and started to rip him off the fence. What’s the big deal about the fence?

"Get off of me! What are guys doing?! I'm trying to get the ball!"

They set him on the ground and they all looked relieved now.

"Holy crap, you could've been killed!"

"Yeah-yeah truly! What are ya doing?!"

"You guys were all leaving so I thought I'd just-"

"If you were thinking you wouldn't have thought that!"

"Okay, I'm gonna say this for me and for Scott… What the hell was that all about! If you're so worried about Scott I'll get it myself, Scott stay here"

I walked up to the fence and pulled myself up but an arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back. They put me down and I turned around to see Benny shaking his head. I'm really confused!

"You can't go back there Y/N"

"Then how the hell do we get the ball back!"

"We don't! It's gone, history, kiss it goodbye"

"We don't! It's gone, history, kiss it good-"

"Shut up Tommy"

"It's gone Y/N, gone"

"Games over Y/N, we'll just get another ball tomorrow. We'll never see it again"

They turned around and started walking. Benny took my hand and guided me with them, probably thinking I'd try and get the ball again. I looked at Scott and he asked the question that lingered for both of us.

"Why not?"

They all turned around again and Benny stopped pulling on my hand.

"The Beast"

They all said it in unison like it was obvious for us.

"What is that?"

Benny looked up at me and took both my hands in his. I was blushing at his contact again but I listened for his answer.

"Y/N listen to me, go to that fence, really slow, and be quiet"

"But we were just askin-"

"No, no, no, just go and peek through the hole"

"B-but I just-"

"It's gonna be okay, just go"

"Just go, Y/N"

"Yeah, Y/N"

I looked at all the others for a way out of this. I really don't want to see what is in that yard now that it sounds scary. They turned their heads to the side and didn't give me any kind of help.

"Fine, Scott stay here, okay?"

He nodded and stood next to Ham. Benny was behind me prompting me to look into the fence. I walked slowly towards the fence trying to gather myself for what I was going to see.

They all made an 'shh' sound reminding me to keep quiet. I got closer to the fence and bent down to level with the hole in it.

I looked back at them and they all took a step back except Benny. I looked back and saw a huge paw swipe at a baseball. The look and sound of everything scared me and I jumped back. I grabbed the nearest thing to me but I wasn't expecting it to embrace me.

Benny hugged me around my waist and my arms went around his neck. I felt soft breathing on the side of my neck making chills surface throughout my body. I pulled away and looked into his eyes and my face felt hot again. Someone said something, pulling me out of my hypnotic state.

"Well, did you see it?"

"Ye-Yeah, something has the ball. What the hell was that thing?"

"... Camp out!"

They turned around and started walking. I looked up at Benny and he shrugged. I sighed and followed behind the rest of the group.

"Come on, Scotty"