Higher, Faster, Stronger

I suppose you could say that while I still felt like crap, I was also enjoying myself genuinely for the first time in a long time. I'm good at keeping people at a distance despite appearances but this would be what my mother would call: loosening up.

And while I'm pretty sure that all the sappiness would ordinarily make me drown in my own sea of stomach acid, it didn't feel that bad.

Derek had insisted on packing up and heading to another place. And while accidentally throwing a crap load of sand at him when I lifted up the blanket, I thought he seemed relatively at ease. And I was too. Until it came back to riding the motorcycle.

"I still don't see why you couldn't have driven a car like a normal person." I muttered as I zipped up the cooler.

"It's easier to dodge traffic this way. And the look on your face was priceless."

"Hey! There are some shades of green that people shouldn't turn."

"I never really took you for the scared type."

"Me? Scared? No way, Jose. Any rational, logical person would point out the flaws in riding on that thing."

"Don't see any of those around here. What do you think of it?"

"How did you manage to out-sarcasm me? With a straight face no less?"

"Years of practice on the idiot." I finished folding the blanket and we started walking back. We'd been there for a few hours and now he said he wanted to take me somewhere else.

"Well that's no challenge. It's not a shooting a fish in a bucket, it's dropping a grenade in a martini glass with an anchovy in it." I quipped.

"You didn't answer my question. Why are you scared of the motorcycle?" He said while patting the black monstrosity.

"Not completely scared, I just have my doubts. The whole exposed on all sides, dangling near cliffs, being on the motor vehicle that is proven to have the most fatalities is just a little unnerving."

He looked a little annoyed.

"Would it kill you to trust me?" he asked, holding out the helmet. I sighed and rubbed my head.

"Fine, but if you do any wheelies, I swear I will tie a packet of fresh fish to your genitalia and throw you in a cave with an angry, horny mother bear. Fair enough?"

"Hold on, I'm weighing the odds…balls or sexually frustrated bear?" Seeing my look, he laughed and threw the helmet at me. Wait? Derek Thompson laughed? OH boy, it's the apocalypse! Duck and cover for your lives, oh worthless peons, the world is ENDING!!

"Relax, I value my body parts more than your sickened expression." He put his own helmet on as I jammed mine down on my head. "That's comforting really. Now, where are we going again?"

"I didn't tell you. Just hold on." He revved the engine and I hugged his ribs tightly. I don't know how he always manages to be a constant source of heat. And while we're on the subject, how come girls are always freezing and guys are always warm? It's a mystery to me.
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It took a good 10 minutes to get to our destination. It too was deserted.

A playground. Oh my God, how cute was that?

I was pleasantly surprised. I think he noticed.

"I haven't been to one of these in years!" I was smiling like a little kid.

"I thought you might like it." I ran over to the monkey bars and the connecting slide.

"How did you know? I loved these when I was a little kid." Oh this was horrible. One awesome place and I turn to mush. I gotta hang out with the boys more often.

Once I was at the top of the slide, I noticed he joined me at the base of fireman's pole.

I saw something really weird. Really odd. And I hadn't seen it before. Ever.

He was smiling. An honest to goodness smile. No smirk or sarcasm either.

"You're smiling!"

"I do that once in a while. Just never near the idiot. His jokes are horrible."

"And that was a joke too!" I slid down the slide and put my hand on his forehead.
"Are you feeling ok?" He scowled. So much for the smile.

"I'm not sick, Sarah." I think that was the first time he'd ever said my name, too!

"Who are you and what have you done with Derek Thompson?" He raised his eyebrow at me.

"Don't make me hurt you."

I sighed in relief. "Oh yeah, you're back. Possible lapse of composure but you're back."

"Oh yes because I'm always a cold barbarian. Maybe you're right, it's heat stroke." He lashed back sarcastically.

"Heat stroke on a 50 degree day? Sure, and we're going to have an ice storm. I feel cold just standing next to you."

"If you weren't a girl..."

"Oh you're going to take the cheap shot? Go ahead, what could you do to a boy that you couldn't do to me?"

"Castration unless you know something I don't."

"Ok, got me there…As much as I love our banter, there's monkey bars here. And only so much daylight left."

"Go ahead princess." That last part was meant as a taunt. He was smiling again, but this time I'm pretty sure he was just yanking my chain.

"Oh I get to be the princess?" I called from the tires. "What does that make you?"

"With my luck, I'd end up being stable boy." He called, still standing near the fireman's pole. Me, I was climbing around everything like a little kid. I ran back toward the slide and jumped down on it. I caught him around the wrist and dragged him back towards the rest of the playground.

"Ok, no more pity party for you. You're going to play like any other 18 year old and that's final." I took a look back at his face, and it looked a little stunned. Odd reaction, I would have thought a smile would have been more appropriate.

"Race you across the monkey bars." I said, smile creeping onto my face. He latched onto the first rung.

"Ready, go!"

"CHEATER!"

"Catch up if you can." Sadly I couldn't, but hey! He had a good head start on me. When we had worn ourselves out a bit on other parts of the playground, and burned off lunch, he took a rest on another plastic slide while I hung upside down on a stationary bar that was hung about 5 feet off the ground.

"You never did this much as a kid did ya?"

"Nope. You?" He was reclined like he was star gazing.

"More times than you I can safely assume." I flipped off of it and climbed back up into a sit position.

"Why'd you call yourself stable boy?"

He just kind of looked at me like I had another head. "Because logically, who ends up shoveling the most…dung?"

"I said no pity party." He shrugged.

"You asked."

I sighed and ran a finger through my hair, which had escaped it's holder.

"Are you at least having fun?" He nodded.

"I've wanted to come here for ages but it's not as much…fun… (he seemed so reluctant to use that word!) by yourself."

"Aww you didn't want to bring Neil or Nate?"

"I have a hard enough time dealing with something who is so obessed about his hair as Hogan is. And we both know how much energy being around the idiot requires."

"What do you think of everyone else?" At his inquisitive glance I shrugged. "Just curious."

He started to tick off on his fingers.

"Hannah is smart enough but neither she or nor Yeomans(Izzy) have much of a backbone. And the fact that Hogan smothers his cousin just shows he's too much of an insecure idiot to let her go out on her own. Steve is a genius but if he doesn't actually apply it, he'll end up working in a fast food joint in 10 years. The idiot is just kind of the idiot. Nothing more to say about him except his insane amount of energy. You probably have a different viewpoint than I do."

True enough.

"Well, yeah. I see more of the future when it comes to people. Hannah will most likely be a chef one day or a at least a stay at home mom for her and Nate's kids."

He choked on his own spit and his eyes bulged.

"Hannah and the idiot?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You cannot be that oblivious. She blushes whenever he comes more than 9 feet closer to her and he thinks she's cute. Anyway," I continued. "Steve just needs someone like Iz or I can't believe I'm saying this, or even Terry to actually get him to do something. Hogan already has his girlfriend and most likely will stay with her, because she's the one female who will actually tolerate him. Even I think he's too cocky sometimes. He'll run some huge business most likely."

"What about the idiot and I?" he drawled.

"Nate's my brother and all but whatever he sets his mind on, he'll do. I can't guarantee the quality…you on the other hand…that's hard. Your family already has a business set up for you to take over and run. You have little social life now so I can't even begin to imagine what's going to happen later on."

I dismounted the bar and walked to the slide where he was to sit down.

"I told you your future. What about me?" I asked.

"You said you wanted to be a doctor right? You'll probably end up with your own practice treating everything from trauma to athlete's foot. And your grand kids will tell stories of the girl who played on the football team when she was younger."

Rather impulsively I reached over and grabbed his hand. Let it never be said I don't have the guts to do something romantic.

The oddest thing happened.

He didn't let go.

He just squeezed back.

(I thought of ending it here but I knew people would kill me.)
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Neither of us let go until we decided to get up to get pizza. Yet again, it was on with the motorcycle of doom and forward to place of cheesy goodness.

On a more personal note, I think I'm going to hate that motorcycle to the day I die.

We laughed and joked and I'll spare you the details, cause, well, nothing really happened. Besides eating.

It was getting dark on the way back to the park, so I could get my car. After we both yanked the helmets off, I unhooked the bungee cords holding the picnic basket in and put it in my car.

Next, I walked back to Derek and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around I trapped him in a hug.

I think he was kind of surprised. But he hugged me back too, after he got over the shock.

I turned over my shoulder when at my car and called, "See you at practice!"

He nodded and put his helmet on again.

Once my car was on and the music was loud enough and he was gone, commence fangirl squeal.

I was a happy little person.