Dawn
Practice ran long.
Coach had us doing drills until my legs burned and my lungs felt like they were packed with sand. Normally, that kind of exhaustion cleared my head. Today, it just made me restless.
I glanced toward the fence between reps.
And there he was.
Earl sat on the low bleachers just outside the field, backpack at his feet, hands folded neatly in his lap. He wasn't on his phone. He wasn't distracted. He was just… waiting. Watching the field like he belonged there, like this was the most natural place in the world for him to be.
My chest did that stupid, traitorous thing again.
"Yo," Derrick said, jogging up beside me, following my line of sight. He squinted. "Is that… Earl?"
I didn't look away. "Yeah."
Derrick blinked. Once. Twice. Then his grin spread slow and wicked. "No way. Is he waiting for you?"
"Focus," I said, tightening my gloves. "We're on break."
"Oh, I'm focused," he replied, bumping my shoulder. "Extremely focused on the fact that your quiet little lab partner is parked outside our football field like he's got season tickets."
A few of the others started noticing too.
"Is that your boyfriend?" someone called out.
I nearly tripped over my own feet.
"He's not—" I started, then stopped. My face was on fire. "Shut up."
Laughter rippled through the group.
"Dawn's got a fan," another teammate teased. "Never thought I'd see the day."
Coach's whistle cut through the noise. "Hydrate and back on the line!"
As everyone scattered, Derrick leaned in again. "You're smiling, dude."
I wiped my face with my towel, absolutely not meeting his eyes. "Am not."
"You totally are."
Practice dragged after that. Every sprint, every tackle, every drill, I felt Earl's presence like a steady point I kept orbiting back to. I didn't look over much. I didn't need to. I knew he was there.
When Coach finally blew the whistle for the last time, relief washed through me.
I jogged off the field, sweat-soaked and exhausted, peeling off my gloves as I headed straight for the fence.
Earl stood as soon as he saw me.
That did something to me. Something soft and dangerous.
"Hey," he said, smiling. "You did really well out there."
I laughed breathlessly. "You watched all that?"
"Yeah," he replied, like it was obvious. "I wanted to."
Behind me, someone wolf-whistled.
I groaned. "Ignore them. Please."
Earl glanced past me, taking in the grinning, nosy group of football players with mild curiosity rather than fear. Then he leaned in just enough for only me to hear.
"They're loud," he murmured. "But kind of funny."
I stared at him. Then I laughed, the sound loose and real. "You're unbelievable."
I grabbed my bag and hopped the fence, landing a little awkwardly. Earl reached out without thinking, steadying me by the arm.
The contact was brief.
Still, my heart stuttered.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said quickly. "Yeah. Thanks."
We started walking toward the parking lot, side by side. My teammates' voices faded behind us, replaced by the softer sounds of mid evening distant traffic, the low hum of the school winding down.
"You didn't have to wait," I said after a moment. "Practice is boring if you're not playing."
He shook his head. "It wasn't boring. It was… kind of nice."
I glanced at him. "Nice?"
"Mm-hm. Watching you do something you care about." He hesitated, then added, "You look really focused out there."
My grip tightened on my bag strap. "You stayed the whole time."
"Of course I did."
We reached the edge of the lot and slowed, neither of us in any hurry.
For a second, I thought about how earlier, just a few days ago, everything between us had felt fragile. Like one wrong step might break it.
Now?
Now he was here. Waiting. Choosing to be.
"Hey," I said quietly.
He looked at me. "Yeah?"
"I'm glad you stayed."
His smile was small, but it reached his eyes. "Me too."
As we headed off together, I caught Derrick watching us from across the lot, eyebrows raised, grin knowing.
I ignored him.
Some things didn't need explaining.