Fair Territory

It’s obvious to Alex that’s something’s not quite right the second he walks into the locker room on a Thursday morning in August. There are a number of players in there – including John and Ryan and Jack – but none of them are talking and they’re all avoiding eye contact as they awkwardly change into their practice uniform. Alex knows that there was some sort of meeting with the entire team earlier that morning but it couldn’t have gone that badly, could it? He quickly glances over at Martin’s locker, relieved to find his jersey and all of his things still there. For a second, Alex wondered if maybe the team ratted him out to Squire.

Clearly, nobody is in the mood to talk (not even Jack, surprisingly) so Alex heads right out to the field where he finds Brendon mudding a few baseballs for practice. “Hi,” he greets as he sits down on one of the benches and throws his bag underneath it. “Do you know why everyone’s so…depressing in there?”

Brendon looks up and shrugs, “Nope. Ryan said he would tell me later and that it would be in my best interest to just get out here and start doing my job. I have a feeling whatever they talked about in their meeting is going to really affect us, too.”

Alex frowns. “You don’t think it had anything to do with Martin, does it?”

“No,” Brendon says quickly, “Definitely not. They wouldn’t rat him out like that. They may not approve of his relationship but they would never tell on him. I honestly think it had something to with the little fact that the team has lost fifteen of their last twenty games. Butch probably wanted to do some job-threatening.”

“Oh…I hope you’re right. I don’t want Martin to get in trouble or anything…”

It’s been a full two weeks since the little incident with Martin and Zack. John caught on almost immediately after it happened – and needless to say, once Squire was safely up in his office where he couldn’t hear anything, John flipped out. Over the short amount of time that Alex had been working with them, he’d never seen John so pissed and Martin so terrified. They were both completely out of character and Alex just hoped that they wouldn’t do anything to ruin their friendship – because he knows that there was one. A close one, at that. Jack tells Alex not to worry about it, that it’ll all turn out okay in the end. But how can Alex do that, when his boyfriend is one of the many who are completely isolating Zack?

At the word ‘boyfriend’, Alex finds himself smiling. He makes sure that he has all of the player’s bats in the right spot before sitting back down to help Brendon, the smile still on his face. Jack asked him the question a week ago – and it’s still at the forefront of Alex’s brain. It’s just…he’s never had a boyfriend before. He’s never had anything even close to one. So as he started getting to know Jack better and better over the past few weeks, he’s found himself wondering how he got as lucky as to have Jack Barakat like him. Even if it’s just the slightest bit.

As the time inches towards one o’clock and it gets closer and closer for practice to start, Alex hears someone entering the dugout from the clubhouse entrance and he sort of hopes that it’s Jack, but he won’t get his hopes up too high. It’s probably just Martin, trying to escape the awkwardness of the locker room. But when Alex looks up, he finds that it’s not Martin and it’s not Jack either. It’s not a player from the team, but instead it’s a short man who’s wearing dark wash jeans and white t-shirt with a Yankee jersey over it. His arms are covered in tattoos and he’s looking around the dugout, almost as if he’s inspecting it.

Alex elbows Brendon in the ribs and the older boy grunts and looks up, eyes widening in shock when he sees the man Alex is curious about. “Shit.”

The man notices them then, looking over at them and smiling. “Hey, you’re the team’s two batboys, am I right?” he asks as he walks closer. “I heard a lot of good things about you guys.”

“Thanks,” Brendon says softly, barely meeting the stranger’s eyes. Alex is curious as to why he’s acting so weird all of a sudden.

“Well I think we’re going to have a good remainder of the year, if you’re as good as Squire said you are. I’m Pete Wentz.” The man holds his hand out and Alex takes it awkwardly, “I’m the new manager.”

-&-

“I don’t know what to do.”

Martin blinks, staring at the window that’s on his side of the bed. It’s raining in Long Island – enough for the game that was supposed to occur that night to be cancelled and rescheduled for later in the season. When Martin found out he could leave at 7:30, he felt more than relieved. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take the glares and awkwardness from his teammates. Sure, they’re keeping his secret which is more than he could ever ask for but still…it’s difficult going from enjoying your job to dreading it in the time span of less than five minutes.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Zack says softly as he throws another pair of batting gloves into his duffle bag. “If I could change things, you know I would but…”

“So you have to leave?” Martin asks, sitting up on the bed and pouting. “You’re the only one who still talks to me. I’m going to go crazy without you for a whole two weeks!”

Zack smiles sadly, “Maybe you should do what I told you a week ago and talk to John or Ryan and try and explain to them the situation. Try and make them see what you do. Because you’re leaving for the west coast in a few days and you know it’s going to be awkward if you don’t have anyone to hang out with.”

Martin knows that his boyfriend is right. Ever since their secret became not-so-secret to John and the rest of the players on Martin’s team, he and Zack have been back together. And Zack has been insistent on telling Martin that he really should try and talk to at least one of the guys on the team – try and make peace with them. Because it’s hard enough playing games at home with nobody to talk to. Once they have to travel, it’s going to be even worse.

“I’m just afraid that with Wentz around now…They’re going to be more inclined to just tell him so that they don’t get in trouble when he finds out on his own. With Squire, I was just afraid he’d give me that whole ‘I’m so disappointed in you’ speech. But with Wentz? He has the power to destroy my whole career. And then yours too. I can’t let that happen.”

“Is he really that bad? I mean, I’ve heard…things…But I thought maybe people were just being overdramatic.”

“He’s pretty bad, yeah,” Martin says, “He’s like…like a tyrant. He was the manager for Oakland about two years ago and when I was there for an exhibition, he was a nightmare. I almost want to quit right now, that’s how bad he is.”

Zack frowns and crawls up onto the bed. “I’m sorry baby,” he says as he wraps his arms around Martin and holds him close. “I wish I could transfer you to my team.”

Martin snorts, “Yeah, no offense, but I don’t want to be on your team. It’s Yankees or nothing, you know.”

“You should be more open-minded. The Mets totally aren’t as bad as you make them out to be!”

“Zack, if I’m on my way to playing for the greatest team in baseball, there is no way in hell I’m switching to the Mets. No offense.”

Zack laughs and buries his face into Martin’s shoulder. “None taken.” He laces their fingers together as they just lie there, listening to the rain pounding on the glass and the weatherman on the TV talk about the storm that’s coming up from the south. After a few minutes he sighs and declares, “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’ll call you every day?”

“You better.”

-&-

“So that was a total bust,” Ryan says as he slips his credit card into the little book that holds the check. He looks up at Brendon who’s glaring at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I was just trying to do something nice for you.”

“You should have asked me first,” Brendon mumbles, pushing the remains of his salad around on his plate. The diner they’re at is loud and busy and surprisingly, nobody has recognized Ryan yet. That’s sort of what Brendon’s waiting for. He just hopes that it doesn’t come. “You’re lucky the game got rained out. Just because you think that I should talk to my parents doesn’t mean that I want to. You shouldn’t have invited them.”

“Whatever, we can talk about this when we get home.” Ryan hands the check back to the waitress, who smiles flirtatiously and tells him she’ll ‘be back in a flash’ before turning on her heels and strutting towards the register. “Do want to get ice cream on the way back?”

“Now you’re just trying to win me over. No, I don’t want ice cream and I want to get out of here as soon as possible. And I swear, if that girl gives you her number, I’m going to kick her in the vagina.”

“Brendon,” Ryan hisses, extending his leg and kicking him in the kneecap underneath the table. “Stop acting like this!”

Brendon sends Ryan one last glare before getting up and throwing his napkin down on the table in a dramatic fashion. If nobody was paying them any attention before, they definitely are now as he storms out of the dining area and heads for the door, with every intention of walking home.

He gets to the corner when he realizes that walking home would mean walking forty blocks and despite the fact that he’s really fucking angry and he’d be glad to walk those blocks, he’s really in no shape to do so. Even Ryan, who works out every day and runs four miles, wouldn’t be able to do it. So instead of proving his point and walking, he heads over to where Ryan parked the car and leans up against it, facial expression set into one of pure anger and irritation. Fucking Ryan.

His boyfriend comes out of the diner a few minutes later, smirking when he sees Brendon still there. “What, are you too good to walk home now?”

“Just unlock the car.”

“No.” Ryan puts his hands on either side of Brendon, leaning forward, “We’re going to talk about this. Right here.”

“Talk about what? The fact that all you do is think of ways to piss me off? Like hey, you know what, Brendon seems perfectly content lately. Let’s invite his parents to a game without asking him, despite the fact that he has stated multiple times that he does not want to talk to them yet!”

“You seem angry,” Ryan mumbles, leaning in closer.

Brendon blinks and tries to lean backwards, “I-I am.”

Before Brendon can even protest, Ryan presses his lips hard against his and his hands move to his waist. He kisses him soft and slow and he doesn’t even care that there are two people a few cars away watching them. Brendon doesn’t take long to react, reaching up and putting his arms around Ryan’s neck.

“Still angry?” Ryan asks a few seconds later as he pulls away, pecking Brendon’s lips between his words. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

Brendon grumbles, “I hate you,” under his breath. “Did that girl give you her number?”

“Yes,” Ryan says, pressing their noses together. “I gave it right back.”

-&-

If Grieco had to pick one word to describe his day, he’d have to go with ‘horrific’. However, one word is definitely not enough to do the day justice. It was all around bad on so many levels that Grieco just wants to crawl into his bed and stay there for a week. Or, at least until this nightmare is over.

He doesn’t really know Pete Wentz at all. But he knows enough to decide that he’s definitely not going to be as great to him as Squire was. Flyzik swears everything will be fine – that Wentz is just here to help them win. But Grieco’s not convinced.

“Do you know what I found out today?” Grieco asks as Jack puts another few quarters in the machine. They’re at the local batting cages, wasting away some time. Since the game was postponed, they really had nothing else to do. So they came here. “I was in the team’s store right? Before the game even started. And I realized that they don’t even put my jersey on the top shelf with Barakat’s and Ross’ and Saporta’s. Even Johnson’s is up there! Mine’s on the fucking second shelf. How awesome is that.”

Flyzik sighs as he adjusts the speed on the pitching machine. “That’s not really a good representation of-”

“It means that nobody cares enough to buy my jersey.”

“That’s not what it means at all.”

“Whatever. Think what you want,” Grieco says as he adjusts his batting stance, ready for Flyzik to load the first ball into the machine. “At this rate, with Squire gone and that beast Pete Wentz in charge, I’m never getting out of here.”

The first pitch comes, faster than he’s used to, but he swings quickly and makes contact, smacking the ball way over the net that Flyzik is standing behind for protection. He knows he’s taking his anger out on Flyzik a little bit, but he can’t help it. He’s pissed. And he knows he has every right to be.

“Well I know what a great player you are,” Flyzik says. “But would it really be so bad staying here another year? With me?”

Grieco softens his expression as he hits another ball. Now he feels bad – he’s probably made Flyzik feel as though he doesn’t want to be with him anymore. “It wouldn’t,” Grieco assures him quickly, “It’s just that I know I’m capable of more than this. I know I would make it in the majors. I can’t…I can’t just stay here only to be with you. Besides, if I ever moved up, I’d still be in the same state – not even that far away from you. It wouldn’t affect us.”

“You’re right,” Flyzik sighs. “I’m being ridiculous.”

It doesn’t make Grieco feel any better, though. He’s still lying to his boyfriend. He knows he should tell him about his meeting yesterday – the one with the manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones. But for some reason, he can’t bring himself to do it. He’s terrified that Matt will treat him like the rest of the team treats Martin – a traitor.

-&-

“I don’t understand why everyone hates Pete,” Jack says, sitting at his kitchen table. Alex is sitting across from him, eyes glued to his coffee mug. “Do you think he’s bad?”

“Well,” Alex shrugs, “I don’t know. He seemed alright…But I really liked Squire. He was nice to me and gave me the job…I guess we’ll have to see how it goes.”

“He made me co-captain,” Jack says quietly. “That’s what he wanted to talk about before we left earlier. He’s telling John tomorrow.”

“Co-captain? Really? That’s…that’s really awesome,” Alex says, his smile widening. “That’s what you’ve wanted, isn’t it?”

Jack gets up and dumps his coffee into the sink. “No, but it’s close enough. Hopefully John won’t be too pissed off tomorrow. I definitely don’t want to have to sit next to him on the plane on Friday if he’s plotting my death. By the way, did you talk to your mom?”

Alex shakes his head, “Not yet…I’m waiting for the right time.”

The team has a few ‘away’ games coming up – four in Oklahoma, and three each in Missouri and Texas. Brendon’s going, and Jack wants Alex to go as well. But it’s a two week trip, meaning he’ll miss three of his summer league games and Alex isn’t too sure if he wants to do that. Plus, he’s not even sure if his mom will allow him to go. She doesn’t know anybody on the team, and she especially doesn’t know that Alex and Jack are dating. If she knew that, it would be a definite ‘no’. So Alex needs to figure out what to do. And soon. Because the team leaves in three days.

“Can you ask her tomorrow, please? I really, really want you to go,” Jack says softly behind him, reaching out and resting his elbows on top of Alex’s shoulders. “It would be so much fun. We have an off day in Missouri. We could walk around and stuff.”

“I know…But it’s also my summer league, you know?” Alex gets out of the chair and makes his way into Jack’s living room. He hears Jack follow him as he sits down on the couch. “I don’t know if I can miss three games…”

“Come on,” Jack encourages, sitting down and snuggling up close to Alex. “It’ll be fine. Just tell your coach you need to come with us because Pete made it mandatory. I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”

Alex sighs. He knows no matter what, he’s going to have to try and get out of it. So he smiles and runs his fingers through Jack’s hair, “Fine. I’ll talk to both of them tomorrow.”

“Awesome. The only problem is that you’re going to have to pretend to room with Brendon…Pete will definitely not put us in a room together.”

“Do you think he cares that we’re dating? I mean…he didn’t seem upset.”

“No. He just wants us all to act as professional as possible. He’s here to clean us up – that’s why we’re trying so hard to keep the whole Martin situation a secret from him. If he finds out, he could potentially get Martin thrown back down to a lower level. And nobody wants that for him.”

“I don’t understand why you’re all acting like he’s a traitor…He can’t help who he falls in love with. You’ve all been such good friends for over a year now…You can’t just throw that all away.”

“It’s more complicated then it seems, Alex,” Jack says, pressing his lips to the side of Alex’s head and reaching out for the remote to the TV. The way he says it makes Alex realize that the conversation is over.