Into Your Arms

Jasey Rae stared groaned in annoyance when she saw that she had to lift yet again another box to get what she wanted. The box landed with a loud thud, and Jasey smiled in response. She saw the box she needed and pulled it off the like, opening it quickly so she could grab her lucky shirt.

But what Jasey found in that box was not the shirt she was looking for. No, it wasn't the Indiana Jones shirt she believed would help her win her big game that day. However, it was a box of old things she had back when she lived on the east coast.

Jasey slowly sat on the floor, the medium sized box between her legs as she peered down inside it. She picked up the first thing on the pile: a photo. Jasey felt her eyes start to tear, but at the moment she didn't care.

It was the picture of her and the three friends that had shown up to her house when she had to leave to go back home in Chicago. The picture, she remembered, was meant to be somewhat happy looking. But, alas, not one of the teenagers were smiling. Jasey was standing in between the drummer and the guitarist, with the bassist on the drummer's left. Each pair of eyes were bloodshot from crying, and it was able to be seen perfectly.

But, each pair of eyes held different emotions entirely. The bassist and drummer were terribly sad to see the girl that had grown to love leave, never to be seen for a long time, for they themselves had things that would keep them occupied. But, unbeknownst to the guitarist on their other side, they would be the only two that the girl would keep in contact with.

And the last boy, the guitarist, held a few different emotions. Yes, he was sad that he had to see his best friend leave, but there was something else. He was awfully sad that the girl next to him, the girl he was absolutely in love with, would never give him the chance she gave with his best friend, and that tore him apart. All he ever wanted was a chance.

And the girl had different emotions in her blue eyes. She was on the verge of being depressed, for she had been betrayed by a boy she thought she was going to be with for the rest of her life, she was leaving her second family whom she loved with all her heart, and she was leaving a boy she was in love with too. The girl had gone through so much in the few months she resided on the east coast. She could hardly take it.

Jasey moved the sad picture on the floor and continued to go through the box, a small tear falling down her cheek. "Oh my God," Jasey laughed softly as she pulled out the highlighter yellow tee shirt. Her best friend's messy handwriting was scrawled out on the top saying 'All Time Low', and four messy signatures were at the bottom. She had completely forgotten about this shirt. Jack had given it to her for Christmas last year, and it was her second favorite gift of the whole day.

Jasey put the shirt in her lap and continued to go through her fondest memories in the box before her. Hundreds of pictures of the five of them goofing off and having the times of their lives with each other. Some were serious, but most were the most outrageous poses and faces you could see, some being drunk, some sober. Some were from Christmas, some a few that probably shouldn't have been taken. But they were all happy in each one. Jasey remembered every single day she and her friends took those pictures, and she loved every single one of them.

When Jasey saw what was at the bottom of the box, she just about had a heart attack. Her hands shook as she picked up the delicate piece of silver, the chain being weighed down slightly by the silver owl hanging in the middle with its diamond eyes. This was it: her fondest memory.

Alex Gaskarth had given this necklace on Christmas, and Jasey loved every bit of it.

She sadly only got to wear for a short period of time, because just about two weeks later, the boy that had given it to her had broken her heart, and she just couldn't bear to wear it any longer; it weighed her down, and it reminded her of a time she desperately wanted to go back to, but couldn't.

"Jase! Time to leave, sweetheart! Don't want to miss your big game, now do you?"

Jasey jumped nearly a foot when she heard her mother's voice call out to her from down the stairs. She was shocked at the amount of tears that had fallen, but she quickly composed herself and wiped them away, grabbing her shirt and walking out the door, necklace laced around her fingers.

-

"Jesus, Ri, how could you have possibly gotten these seats? It's been fucking sold out for weeks!" Jack Barakat said, completely shocked as his eyes traveled around the rather large stadium, noticing that every single seat was filled with screaming fans. The four boys were in the seats right behind home plate, the first row. These seats were arguably the best seats in the stadium.

Rian cleared his throat nervously, offering Jack a shrug along with a small smile. He knew exactly who he had gotten them from. "I know a guy who knows a guy who couldn't make it." Zack looked over at his best friend, chuckling a bit at his lie. He, too, knew exactly who had given them these tickets, but didn't say anything. They didn't want anymore drama.

"Man, I'd like to meet this guy." Jack mumbled, his leg bouncing up and down from the excitement.

"You know her better than you think," Zack mumbled, yelling in pain when Rian had punched him hard on the arm. "God, it's not like I fucking told," Zack mumbled angrily to the scowling Rian, rubbing his arm a little.

Alex raised an eyebrow suspiciously at the two oddly secretive boys, but didn't say anything. He didn't say anything at all that night really. Not even a simple thank you to the two boys that had brought him there. To be honest, Alex was torn in half on deciding whether he wanted to be there or not. Sure, he wanted to see the girl he was still in love with play her biggest game of her life, maybe even have her possibly see him. But that was the thing: what if she saw him? Would she still be angry with him? Would she not talk to him still? Would she yell again? Does she hate him? So many possible scenarios could happen, and in Alex's mind, they didn't turn out well at all. For if it were him in Jasey's place, he'd hate him too. And that killed him, because Alex had met the girl that he knew he was going to marry one day, he just idiotically broke her heart because of his own fears, and she slipped through his callused fingers.

-

Nearly three hours later, Jasey's shoulder felt like it was about to fall off. And to be honest, she wouldn't have minded one bit. Her entire being was exhausted from the whole game. Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox manager, had kept her in the whole length of the game, knowing full well that Jasey was his best pitcher, unfortunately for Jasey.

The score was 1-0, with the White Sox winning, and it was the bottom of the ninth inning. The Houston Astros were up for batting. Immense amounts of pressure was definitely on for the young pitcher, for there were only two outs left, and then her team would win the whole World Series of 2005. But it wasn't easy at all. One bad pitch could cost her the entire game.

Jasey Rae took a deep, shaking breath as her violently shaking hands fixed her sweaty baseball cap. Her mind was battling itself on whether or not she was able to do this, to win.

'I can't believe you're being so stupid, Hayley!' Jasey gasped lightly as Alex's angry voice echoed through her head. It was the night they had one of their biggest fights, one that really tore Jasey apart.

'"No, Angela! I'm fucking done! I can't live like this anymore! With this...embarrassment of a child! She's not worth it! She's not like other girls, Angela! I am not having a daughter who is so stupid! God dammit! I'm leaving!'

Again, Jasey took a deep intake of breath. Her father's furious and vicious voice that Christmas morning when she was young, the day he officially left the family because of her. The night that honestly changed her life forever.

Jasey wanted to cry right then and there, forcing herself to believe that she wasn't going to win this, that she sucked, and that she was just an embarrassment to everyone. All those years of her father and mother screaming at her that she was the dumbest girl ever, was flooding back to her.

But then she thought of Christmas night, when her father had talked to her for the first time in four years. She thought of how angry she was and how she had screamed at the top of her lungs at him. She could remember herself ripping up pictures of him and not caring.

And Jasey was through with it all. She was done with all the people disappointed in her. She was through with people yelling at her because she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. She was done with everyone saying they couldn't be in her life just for that reason. She was over caring about what people thought of her. She was considered one of the best baseball players of all time, and she made more money than the President himself. She had made so many people proud of her. Kids looked up to her and wanted to be like her, and people respected her in all ways.

She gave people hope.

Jasey smiled widely as she dug her foot into the dirt a little, a new burst of energy that made her forget about her pain. There were only two outs left, then they would win. Piece of cake, she thought, and imagined herself in her own heaven.

And Jasey's heaven was Maryland, her home. Her heaven was with the four boys she loved most, despite all that's happened. She imagined herself with them, just goofing off and not having a care in the world. Alex would have his arms wrapped around her, Rian and Zack would be battling it out on the latest video game, and Jack would be just being his goofy self, making everyone cry with laughter. Her father was finally out of the picture for good, and her mother and brother cared for her deeply. That was Jasey's heaven.

Jasey nodded at Aj Pierzynski, the catcher, as he gave her the sign to throw a curve ball. Just as Jasey was about to throw the ball, she stopped, her eyes seeing the four boys she thought she wouldn't see for a long time. They actually came?

Alex, Jack, Rian, and Zack all knew Jasey was looking at them. They saw the shocked and confused expression on her face, and they knew she was shocked that they actually came. Kissing something she had grabbed from around her neck, Jasey nodded once at them, smiling wider than she ever had before, and did her wind up, throwing the ball full speed towards the catcher's mitt.

The four boys all wondered the same thing: what had she just kissed?

Jasey's heart sunk as the batter hit the ball, her body whipping around to see it being caught by the second basemen. He touched the base for the force out, then threw it quickly over to the first baseman, who then also did the force out. That meant two outs. Which meant that the Chicago White Sox had won the World Series. They won!

Jasey was then tackled to the ground by multiple amount of large men who had run into her in pure celebration. Everyone screamed at the top of their lungs in utter joy, jumping around as they all hugging each other to death. Everyone tugged and pulled at each other as they shouted in celebration for their win, the crowd's screams making it that much louder in their. Fireworks were being shot off left and right, and it seemed like there wasn't a silent person in the stadium.

Hats and shirt and sweatshirts were being thrown on, the first official 'World Series 05' items of the season being worn. Jasey, however, had only put on the hat, for she had taken her jersey off to show off her lucky and most favorite shirt. She stepped away from her team a little bit, facing the four boys she considered family, her thumb in the air, a large and beautiful smile adorning her sweaty face.

The four boys in the stands had their jaws dropped as they recognized the highlighter yellow that had seen nearly a year ago on Christmas morning, their band's name messily scrawled on the top, and their autographs on the bottom. She was wearing it; she was wearing their shirt to the biggest game of her life.

Finally, after a minute, each of them raised their thumb in the air, giving the girl they loved a thumbs up, shouting in celebration for the happy girl.

Jasey laughed loudly, falling to her knees in exhaustion, and felt everyone of her teammates pile on top of her. Jasey honestly couldn't be any happier, and she knew she had never felt happier before this. Well, she had, but that was a different type of happy. She knew the parties weren't going to stop for a very long time, and she knew she would remember this day for the rest of her life.

-

Jasey sighed tiredly as she walked the field of her home town, her shoulder pounding with pain that she had forgotten for a while. Everyone had gone out to the bars to have celebratory drinks with each other, but she was still underage, meaning she couldn't legally party with the boys she considered her family. So, she decided to hang around for a while before she went home to have a party of her own.

"Hey, Jasey Scott! YOU SUCK!"

Jasey's head snapped up as she heard four voices echo throughout the now empty stadium, her light eyes darting around the sections of seats before they finally landed on her four favorite boys. A smile slowly made its way onto her face as she saw the boys hopping over the ledge and running over to her full speed. Well, as fast as they could. Their low riding pants were making it difficult for them.

Jasey screamed in delight as met them half way, slamming herself into Jack and Zack as she did so. "I thought you wouldn't be able to make it! I'm so glad you're here!"

"You knew we were going to come? But how?" Jack asked, raising a bushy eyebrow. A very large smile was stretched on his lips. "And congrats on the win, you did amazingly."

Jasey blushed. "Thank you. And what do you mean? Didn't Rian and Zack..." The girl trailed off as she looked at a sheepish drummer and bassist. Laughing, she looked back at Alex and Jack. "I gave you guys the tickets. How else would you have gotten such great seats?"

Alex and Jack glared at the two other band members, who merely laughed and waved it off, saying it was meant to be a surprise for them.

"I'm so happy you're here!" Jasey smiled, wrapping her arms around the four in another hug. "You guys are the best, really! I'm so glad you could make it. It honestly made my night so much better." The four boys blushed in response.

"Jasey, you did fanatically out there. We're so proud of you," Zack smiled, and it was Jasey's turn to blush deep red in response that time.

"Nice shirt by the way," Rian laughed, and Jasey laughed softly in response.

"It's my lucky shirt. I gotta wear it."

"Where's uh, where's your boyfriend?" Zack asked awkwardly. He knew Alex or Jack didn't like hearing about him.

Jasey smiled softly at the boy. "He was here. He went home though after everyone left. I got to talk to him, though. See, he has school tomorrow, so," She chuckled lightly, thanking God she didn't have to attend another high school for the rest of her life.

"So, how come you're not out celebrating?" Jack asked. He figured that since she was practically the one who won the game for them, she'd be the one that would be celebrating the hardest. Or at least that's what he would do.

Jasey laughed softly. "I'm still only seventeen. The bars won't let me drink, no matter who I am. I could be the President for all they care. The boys promised they'd have a party of our own later on. So I decided to stay and chill for a while. Besides, my shoulder is killing me."

Alex, who had hardly spoken all night, looked over at the girl, concerned. "What's wrong? Work it too much?"

Jasey swallowed hard over at the boy, her hear skipping a beat involuntarily. But, since she was slowly starting to get over everything, she answered civilly. "Yeah. Ozzie had put me in a bunch this season and it really worked my shoulder to death. I don't know what's going to happen next season, if there is one."

All eyes went wide at the last part, their jaws dropping. "You're quitting? You can't quit!" Rian said quickly. How could the best pitcher in the MLB quit while she was ahead?

Jasey shrugged, flinching at the pain a little. "I don't know. It all depends on how my shoulder is. I might go for a few seasons more, then just take like an early retirement. You have to remember: I played a lot before I was thirteen for Minors and just regular baseball teams. I don't know though. Something in my shoulder just doesn't feel right anymore."

The four boys looked sadly at the girl, but she brushed it off, saying she was fine and that she most likely was going to continue for a few more years. Then, she suggested that they all go to her house to celebrate on their own, and the boys were quick to agree. They loved a good party.

As they all started walking out, Alex couldn't help but notice the delicate silver necklace dangling from her neck, the diamond eyes of the small own sparkling in the super bright light. This caused him to smile, for he had given her that on Christmas as an act of showing his love for the girl, and she was wearing it on the biggest day of her life.

That must mean something, right?