~ Chapter Twenty Two ~

Stacy shoved her hair back from her face and stared up at the ceiling.  The morning after was always an awkward situation.  Maybe she should just leave now.  She leaned over to look at the clock next to the bed.  It was already nine thirty.  Nick was completely buried under the covers next to her, just the top of his head visible, hair sticking up every whichway.

She sat up and reached for her shirt.  Never, in her entire life, had she moved this quickly into a relationship before.  The strange thing was, it didn't worry her in the slightest. 

"Hey."  Nick said sleepily from under the covers.  "Where are you going?"

Stacy stopped guitily.  He hadn't been sleeping after all.

He poked his head up from under the blanket and flashed her an irresistible smile.  "C'mon!  It's Saturday morning! Come back here!"

~*~

"Darn those infielders..."  Brian greeted Nick as he flopped back onto the dugout bench.  "They're always in the way, aren't they?"

Nick had lined a ball towards the hole at shortstop, almost positive he had a hit, until the shortstop dove for it and threw Nick out on a Sports Center worthy play.  Right now, Nick could care less.  In the last eight games, he was sitting slightly under .600.  He knew the three hits a night pace couldn't keep up forever, but he was going to enjoy it while he could. 

"Where were you this morning?"  Brian added. 

Nick shrugged and tapped the end of his bat on the dugout floor. 

"Cause I called you, and you weren't home."  Brian finished suspiciously.  "I strongly doubt you were up and moving before nine, buddy."

Nick ignored Brian, staring up through the mesh fence at the field.  Scott Martin was flailing away at the plate, fouling off pitch after pitch.  Nick had been home, but Brian really didn't need to know that. 

"The two of you are gettin' kind of serious, aren'tcha?"  Brian observed. 

"I guess." 

"You guess?"  Brian said in disbelief.  "Geez, Nick!  Has there been more than a three hour period where the two of you were separated?"  Brian scowled.  "I haven't had a date in two weeks."

"You had one two weeks ago?  I didn't hear about that."  Nick was surprised. 

"Yeah, well, I don't exactly want to talk about it."  Brian grouched.  "Thanks, Howie!"  He yelled towards the other end of the dugout.

Howie held up his fingers in a peace sign.  "You're welcome!" 

"He has no clue what I'm talking about.  Never let Howie set you up with someone."  Brian shook his head.  "C'mon, Scott!"  He hollered at the field, as Martin one off the wall in right center, and was heading for second.  "Pick ‘em up and put ‘em down!"

~*~

Felicia unsnapped the clip holding her hair up on the back of her head, letting her curls tumble down around her shoulders.  As mildly upset as she had been, having to leave her life in Tampa, the house they had found in Seattle had made up for a lot of it.  She could easily spend her entire life in this bedroom.  The house was in an older area of Seattle, set back from the street, and surrounded by maple and oak trees.

Narrow windows made up the east side of the room, stretching from the ceiling to the window seat, the green leaves outside just a couple feet away from the glass.

"What?  You spying on the neighbors again?"  AJ wondered, appearing behind her and pulling one of the white curtains aside, looking out at the darkened landscape.  It was impossible to see any neighbors from the windows, but that didn't matter to AJ.

"Did you pack?"  Felicia asked, leaning back against AJ's burgundy and black shirt.  Packing was always a several hour ordeal for AJ.  Clothing for the next three cities had to be chosen carefully. 

"Yeah."  AJ wasn't happy with the idea of leaving tomorrow for the second longest road trip of the season, but Felicia thought he was handling it admirably well - for AJ.  He had been in a mood for the last few days anyway.  He wrapped both his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head.  "Do you..."

"Yes."  Felicia finished.  "I have a stack of phone numbers two inches thick.  Besides, Stacy already said she would stop by."  Stacy and Nick had stopped by earlier that day, after AJ had already left for Safeco Field. 

Felicia's father was the ultimate Atlanta Braves fan and as a result, Felicia had grown up with baseball.  She had seen a good portion of Bob Carter's career, including his glory years with the Yankees, and heard more than enough about the Carter family, since they spent their offseason in Tampa.  After Nick's rookie season, she was impressed with his playing ability, although just a little disaffected by his attitude.  Sometimes he was quite charming in interviews, but more often than not, he was the spoiled brat of the league.

Then, earlier that day, she had met Nick for the first time and was completely taken aback by the difference in personality.  The first word that came to mind to describe him had been adorable.  Off field, Nick had a very cute, sweet, slightly clueless charisma that didn't show up on camera.

"Are you even listening to me?"  AJ said testily.

"I'm sorry, what?"  Felicia hadn't heard a word he had said.  She might be feeling better, but her mind was still a little fuzzy.  One of the many prescriptions she was taking was supposed to help with that, but it didn't seem to be operating at it's full potential.

AJ let go of her waist and stalked back across the room.  "Never mind."

"Alex..." She started after him.  "What is your problem?"

"My problem?"  AJ repeated cynically, before he spun around and kicked the bedframe as hard as he could.  "What?  Was that supposed to be funny?"  As his way of dealing with frustration, AJ kicked inanimate objects.  Eventually, he was going to kick something concrete and break his foot, but so far the casualty list only included a few broken lamps and a small dent in the refrigerator door.

AJ  sank down on the bed and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.  "You have no idea how tired I am of all of this."  His voice was so quiet Felicia could barely hear him. 

"No, I know exactly how tired of it you are."  Felicia corrected him softly.

AJ‘s brown eyes stared at her for a long moment, before he shook his head slightly and flopped backwards onto the bed.  "Lissie, I can't do this anymore." 

"Can't do what?"  Felicia perched next to him on the bed. 

"All of..." AJ broke off, reaching up to pull her down next to him, burying his face in her hair.  "I don't want to..."  His voice broke.  "I'm scared I'm gonna lose you."  He whispered, before he wrapped his arms around her tightly and started crying in earnest.

Felicia hugged his skinny frame in return, since it was the only thing she could think of to do.  AJ was always the one who was in control, not her.  The tables had suddenly flipped on her and she wasn't quite sure what to make of the entire situation. 

She lost track of time while they lay there, but eventually AJ's arms loosened and she could tell from his breathing that he had fallen asleep.  He shifted slightly, lying on his side, one arm under his head.  His eyelashes were still wet, making them look darker than usual, and there were still damp trails running down his face.  Felicia reached over and brushed at his face carefully, trying not to wake him up.  AJ didn't even flinch.

Fishing around behind her on the bed, her fingers found the woven throw blanket that usually sat at the end of the bed for decorative purposes.  She pulled it up over both of them, before curling up against AJ's chest. 

Her head fit perfectly in the niche between AJ's neck and shoulder.  When she was laying there, nothing else mattered.  It didn't matter if she was sick, it didn't matter if she was so tired she could barely move, all that mattered was she was with the one person in the world that she was meant to spend her entire life with, and everything was going to be okay.