43.

SORRY

SORRY

SORRY

Welcome back :p

School is time-consuming right now

don't hate me

Now let's get down to business - to defeat the Huns

Ps. Basketball is my fav

~~

"Mondays can suck hairy balls."

"Seriously, Francis? Our little sister is in the car."

"Sorry," Francis cleared his throat. "Mondays are the devil incarnate."

"Maybe you should try reframing your mentality into, I don't know, positivity." Colton suggested, his eyes flickering over to the grumpy, sleep-deprived Francis occupying the passenger seat. He took his right hand off the wheel and smacked Francis in the arm a couple times with the back of his hand. "Come on, man. At least act alive."

"Stop," Francis moaned, curling away from Colton's hits and into a ball as much as he could with his long legs. "Child abuse. Gonna report you to Austin."

"I don't think Austin is going to save you, bro," Glen threw in his two cents. He lifted his forehead off the glass window and faced forward as he decided to acknowledge his older brothers with this riveting conversation starter. "But seriously, I agree with Stupid. Why can't school start on Tuesdays?"

Mr. Teacher Colton caught his gaze in the rearview mirror. "Because then you all would just complain about how Tuesdays are the worst days of the week."

Glen scoffed, offended, "No, I wouldn't. Everybody knows Tuesday is the best day of the week."

Francis pulled on his seatbelt, loosening it up a bit so it didn't choke him as he shifted around in his seat to look at his little brother, the disbelief blatant on his face. "In what world is Tuesday the best day, baby bro? What about hump day?"

"I prefer Fridays," Colton half shrugged as he gave his opinion, free of charge.

"He was born on a Tuesday," Hayes' quiet voice was heard, speaking for the first time since they got in the car. Not that she was much of a chatty cathy during breakfast either. She wasn't feeling all that sparky this morning, the night's sleep doing nothing to alleviate the anxiety she continued to feel.

The little family gathering to watch Dakota's home video was just a temporary relief for her. She had gone to bed afterwards but woke up only hours later and did nothing but toss and turn for the rest of the night until busted when Austin made his morning sibling rounds before he left for a run.

He, of course, kindly asked if she wanted to come with him, even though he was not expecting her to say yes since she usually didn't run on gamedays.

He'd been wrong before.

Though this time, as he figured, Hayes turned down his offer. Instead, she moved her restless being into the family room where the couch was totally free for once and put on a random old recording of Family Feud.

Austin followed her into the family room, pressed a hard kiss on the top of her head, before playfully tossing a couple blankets over her face. Hayes eagerly wrapped herself up like a burrito, giving her the sensation of a lasting hug that somewhat alleviated her anxiety.

That gave her a solid 40 minute additional snooze, but even then...

The angst returned and was just getting worse and worse and worse and she didn't know who to tell or what to say.

Because let's face it. At the end of the day, Hayes didn't know even know why she was feeling like this. It would look like she was a crybaby if it turned out all this trepidation was just the product of her imagination.

She really needed to talk to Glen.

Like, really really.

He had always been good at organizing the thoughts in her head. He was her person to lean on and vice versa. They were each other's lifeline.

"That doesn't count," Francis huffed in his seat, deeming her rationale on Glen's behalf about Tuesdays irrelevant. "That's like saying Sunday should be the best day because it's the Lord's day bullshit."

Without even looking, his arm immediately rose up in defense against Colton's smack to the head. He just barely blocked Colton's ambush, protecting his few remaining brain cells for another day.

"It was just an example, jeez," Francis groused, peeking over his arm to make sure it was safe before lowering it back down.

"Don't be disrespectful," Colton warned, catching Hayes' piercing eye in the rearview mirror. His gaze instantly softened at her downcast expression. She didn't seem to be in the playful mood today for the brothers' bickering and no one in their right mind had to question why.

Francis still wasn't aware of the situation, left in the dark for now without a single clue, but Colton was fully informed last night. It was just one of those things where there was no clear cut answer on what to do, so like the others, he followed Austin's lead and kept his mouth shut.

Did he like that?

Not particularly, but it was such a delicate, ever-changing situation that they needed to all be on the same page.

Francis heard his brother's request loud and clear to not push his limit, smartly deciding to listen and shut his mouth for once. Francis squinted at his baby siblings, giving them his infamous look of conspiracy, before abruptly sitting properly again. He yanked on the locked seatbelt a couple times out of frustration, unbuckled, then buckled up again. He proceeded to pick up his phone and busied himself with scrolling through his numerous messages.

His boys' squad group chat was a constant feed of stupid-funny humor and baseball stuffs, plus the last minute homework request for help.

Whaaat?

Senioritis was in full bloom for the lot of them.

"New argument," Francis said out of the blue, with the apparent memory of a goldfish. He casted Colton a mischievous look, "let's just cancel school."

Instead of rising to the challenge of defending his livelihood, Colton just chuckled, "Alright negative nelly."

"Alright positive pickle."

"What?" Colton raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Francis immediately asked.

Colton sighed but didn't have anything else to say to his siblings, letting the car elapse back into silence. The radio provided a gentle serene hum that no one cared enough to pay attention to.

Glen leaned the side of his head back against the window, tilting his head in a way so that his gaze flickered to Hayes. His lips rolled into his mouth at her defensive posture. Knees to chest with Francis' school baseball sweatshirt that she "borrowed", pulled over her bare legs.

Solemn Sunshine.

His heart strings pulled, knowing that he was the reason for her distress even if she didn't. It was all his fault, even if Austin said otherwise. He just couldn't stop thinking about anything he could have done to have prevented this. Then the Bear wouldn't be in jail and they would be back in Florida.

But that meant no brothers.

Glen pinched his own arm hard to break that train of thought.

One life lost to save two.

Well, technically two lives lost to save eight.

All evening and long through the night, Glen went back and forth like this, whether to just spill the beans or to continue to keep the news quiet. He wished she could live without ever knowing the Bear met his fate, but that wasn't realistic.

Now he was just being selfish. She deserved to know as much as he did. She should blame him. He turned down her request to help the Bear, instead shoving their bad memories down her throat when she was upset enough as is.

What was he thinking?

What a clusterfuck.

He-who-shall-not-be-named strikes once again.

Sorry HayHay.

Sooner than any of the three teens wished, they arrived at school, Colton smoothly pulling the car into his designated spot. Just like the seniors had the fun opportunity to do in their lot, Colton and a good bit of his colleagues painted their parking spots to a creative theme of choice.

One could guess Colton obviously picked basketball with the bonus motivational quote for the students of Sacred Heart.

"Champions never complain, they are too busy getting better." - John Wooden

All throughout the teacher parking lot, car doors opened and closed, voices getting significantly louder as more and more people rolled in.

"Have a fantastic day at school on this fantabulous Monday, baby sibs," sarcasm oozed from Francis' mouth as he got out. He made sure to pointedly look at Colton as he said those words of positivity, before ducking back in to grab his bag off the floor of the passenger seat. He threw a peace sign in the air as he strolled away to find his friends, his navy blue backpack flung over his right shoulder.

Colton rolled his eyes, straightening his tie as he walked around to the trunk of the car to get his own backpack. Yes, he was the cool teacher with his black jansport backpack that made him look like a high school student and often put him on the receiving end of his siblings' and even colleagues' teasing.

Who would expect anything less?

Ask him for more details on how to look forever young with his bright blue eyes and clean-shaven cheeks, his face looking as smooth as butter.

All about those genetics, baby.

Hayes was the last to climb out of Colton's car, reluctant as per usual, fighting the urge to turn around and hop back in.

But she didn't.

And she was going to reward herself with ice cream tonight after the basketball game.

Hayes didn't make the rules.

Okay, she totally made that one up, but as long as Austin didn't know or contest it, it was legitimate.

She slung her backpack straps onto both her shoulders, leaving her gym bag in the car like she always did. No sense lugging it around with her during the school day. The basketball game tonight was an away game at the other school, but she had enough time to retrieve it before the school bus departed.

Hayes was already looking forward to the cat nap she'll take during the trip, with Colton as her seat buddy. She usually sat with Glen and his teammate besties, Theo and Abe, but they liked to talk, a lot. Specifically Abe, who did not have an 'off' button.

But today the girl was not in the mood to listen.

Talk to the booty because the hand is off duty.

"Hold it," Colton's deep voice called her back, his fingers immediately fixing her uniform collar above the sweatshirt so it laid nice and flat. It wasn't even necessarily cold out, though winter was coming soon, so he knew the sweatshirt was purely for her craved feeling of comfort.

Hayes held onto the black straps, awkwardly shuffling her feet against the concrete as she tried to read his mind since he wouldn't meet her eyes.

Oops.

She spoke too soon, quickly averting her eyes to their shoes when he suddenly met her gaze.

Oh look at that, her left shoe was untied.

And, she had mismatching socks on.

What else was new.

Noticing her frown, Colton glanced downward. He chuckled when he saw the problem. Pulling his pant legs up, he squatted down to tie her shoe, double knotting it so it wouldn't come undone again. He playfully squeezed her toes in the brown shoe before standing back up, his knee joints cracking with the effort.

"Thank you," Hayes shyly said, pulling on her bag straps so the backpack was now taut against her back.

"You're very welcome, kiddo," He tweaked her chin. When his pensive gaze lingered a little longer on her face, Hayes scrunched her nose up.

"What?" Hayes whined, crossing one leg over the other at the ankles as she felt uncomfortable. It always felt like her eldest brothers could stare into her soul and know exactly what she was thinking.

Which wasn't true about a third of the time, since Hayes continued to catch them off guard with her random thoughts on a daily basis. Kept life interesting.

But the feeling never disappeared.

Colton smoothed her hair back, still tucked in the braid Austin had done the evening before, taming the fly-aways. Don't ask him why Austin let her leave the house without brushing her hair.

But whatever.

"Run the day, Sunshine. Don't let the day run you." Colton bent down and kissed the top of her head. "If you ever want to talk, I'm here," he whispered against her messy hair.

Dang it.

It wasn't fair that she was such an emotionally unstable teenager.

Stupid hormones.

Hayes rapidly blinked away the traitorous tears that formed in her eyes, stepping forward to hug Colton. She melted into his embrace as one strong, hidden tattooed arm wrapped around her mid-back, backpack included, and the other braced against the back of her head.

Colton had successfully silenced her troubling thoughts.

It was so peaceful. Hayes let out a little sigh as her eyes fluttered shut, hiding the window into her bare soul.

"She okay?"

That didn't take long for the bubble of bliss to burst.

Hayes abruptly pushed herself out of Colton's grasp and turned around to face their brother.

She assumed that Glen had disappeared like Francis to go see their respective friend groups.

Wrongly assumed, which made the saying true - when someone assumes something... you end up making an ass out of you and me.

How did she even forget that she shared the same friend group as Glen. Of course he'd wait for her to go find them.

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

She was certainly on a roll today, huh.

Sure enough, Glen had hung around the car, kicking dirt while waiting for his true best friend, numero uno from the get-go, before entering into the pits of Hell; Otherwise known as school.

Wow, that was dramatic.

Was he turning into Francis?

In all honesty, Glen liked school, probably only because he was naturally good at it. But it also had given him a purpose his whole life. Like he told Austin forever ago, his goal had been to finish school then get the hell out of Dead Oak with Hayes and never look back.

Well, they'd done the hard part.

South Carolina was a far cry from Florida.

Ain't no cow pastures on the corner in their homely suburb-on-the-cusps-of-rural town.

Now that they were free from their past, Glen was able to enjoy school just for the heck of it... as much as one could "enjoy" school. And, he was starting to play around with the idea about college and what career paths he could go explore.

For instance, math came easy for him. Maybe he'd follow in Austin's footsteps and work in finance. Run the numbers for some professional sports team.

Or study criminology and take after Baker. Maybe do something with the FBI and find kids who had gone missing just like him and Hayes.

Or!

Wait no, scratch this one. Glen couldn't picture himself working as a teacher. Sorry not sorry Colton, but he could not imagine going to school every day for the rest of his life.

Hell no.

But speaking of Colton, his brother had been on scholarship to play basketball in college. Just like what Emerson was doing right now, but with baseball. Not to mention, the more Francis excitedly talked about playing alongside Emerson next year, the more the thought creeped its way into Glen's mind - the possibility of himself playing collegiate basketball.

It was bitter sweet, but totally exhilarating all at the same time.

Talk about life moving at warp speed.

Where was the pause button?

Let's go back to when he couldn't imagine not sharing the bedroom with Hayes anymore and now he couldn't imagine not sharing the room with Francis next year.

But that was what good change was all about.

Life wasn't meant to be bad all the time. He'd received more than his fair share already.

Glen wanted this goodness to last.

Who would've thunk?

The future suddenly didn't seem quite as scary to think about, not with his family by his side.

But Hayes...

But college?

Add that to the list of things he needed to tell his sister.

Sorry HayHay...

Again.

Glen could feel his chest tightening. He was failing her so badly right now and Hayes had no clue.

Get your head in the game, man.

His self-destruction down-spiral halted as he remembered where he was. Hiding his guilty conscious, Glen smirked as Colton tugged on Hayes' braid like the annoying older brother that he was, before she walked out of arms' reach. Colton answered his question, "She's good, Smiley."

Glen subconsciously smiled as he watched his brother and sister share a half-smile, the girl showing her gratitude for Cole before she broke away from his loving gaze and walked onward to her forever partner-in-crime.

The feeling was mutual between the kids.

Hayes stepped beside Glen, their arms bumping together as she turned around one last time to wave goodbye to Colton. He winked at her.

All good in the hood.

Colton wished them both a good day at school and then the two kids strolled off in the direction of the main courtyard, whereas Colton went left. He headed to the pink, single story building that housed the elementary grades and all his pestering gremlins.

He just couldn't wait to hear twenty times over how everyone's weekend was.

Colton turned around before reaching the double doors, chuckling under his breath as he stole one last glance at his two youngest siblings before they disappeared out of view, both of whom were completely oblivious to his protective, vigilant stare.

Glen purposefully knocked against Hayes again as they walked, almost sending her off balance into the innocent student walking past them. "You gucci, HayHay?"

An instinctual small grin formed, reminding her of the old times they shared. They never strayed far from their true selves. "Peachy, G."

Just peachy, Glennard.

Especially when she was with him, there was a peaceful vibe, similar to what she was just experiencing with Colton. Glen never had to try to make her scaries go away, it was just a natural effect of his presence. She didn't know what she would ever do without him.

🎶It's just another manic Monday

I wish it was Sunday

'Cause that's my fun day

My I don't have to run day

It's just another manic Monday🎶

————

"Just under two minutes remaining, two minutes."

Thank God.

Glen was ready to take the court already, hoping the natural adrenaline would continue to rush through his blood stream and hold him over until the boys' varsity game actually started. Then Coach Colton wouldn't be able to tell if Glen was sweating because he may be rocking a fever or because he was working his ass off.

Though, Mama Deja always did say to sweat the fever out, so.... technically that's what he was doing.

Glen sniffed, his eyes sneakily darting to check to see where Colton was standing far away, then ran his wrist under his nose.

Oh yeah, he had a runny nose too.

A freaking cold, just what he needed.

After everything he'd been through, absolute icing on the cake, he thought with no sarcasm whatsoever.

It started today during 3rd period, when his energy was suddenly zapped and Glen felt very sluggish. But as much as he sort of wanted to cave and ask Austin if he could go home, he stuck it out. Glen was not about to miss a basketball game, not when he already missed so much of the season, many thanks to the broken thumb.

Also sarcasm.

So far, he's chugged two gatorades for hydration and those magical electrolytes. But other than having to piss a whole bunch of times, Glen wasn't sure if he received any benefits.

Absolute bogus advertisement if you asked him.

Under the false pretense of stretching his legs just in case Coach Colton decided to bust his chops, Glen stepped to the side, out of the way in the hallway where his team was warming up, slowly inching closer to the open gym doors. He took one more tiny step forward, peeking around the door frame to see inside.

Then he couldn't help himself and confidently took the final step so now he was fully in the gym, tucked in the distant corner. Beside him was the table that had the athletic trainer's equipment laid out on top, which Hayes had a visit to, earlier in the game.

The whole time Glen and his team had been warming up, the announcer's voice had clearly echoed into the hallway with the highlights of the girls' game, but Glen could not resist wanting to watch these last few minutes with his own two eyeballs.

Last time Glen checked the scoreboard, Sacred Heart was losing by eight points but it wasn't for lack of trying. Hayes was, as it always seemed for his sister, taking the brunt of the action as being the smallest person on the basketball court.

For lack of better terms, Hayes was getting completely beat up as both teams were playing very aggressively. For a non-contact sport, there sure was a lot of contact.

In other news, it appeared to Glen that whatever thoughts held her brain hostage this morning that created her and Colton's little moment must have been pushed to the back of her head because the girl had been playing with laser-focus. There were no distractions as she tried to help her team to victory.

But all that showed was how great her defense-mechanism was at putting up mental blocks.

He was the same way.

Glen glanced at the scoreboard that hung on the wall across from him, nodding at the respectable score of 39 to 45. The St. Louis Hawks were ahead by six points but the momentum could change in Sacred Heart's favor at a moment's notice.

That's what made this game so thrilling to watch.

Emerson had not been kidding when he informed them that this team was last year's state champions for the 2A division. These girls were seriously beasts, in skill level and somewhat in size.

In the very least, they were all much bigger than Hayes, and that's all who the brothers were concerned about.

Risk stratification for their little sister.

Even with saying that, Glen thought Sacred Heart was superior in his unbias, humble opinion.

The main fact being that Hayes' team was young compared to the Hawks' all senior starting five line-up.

Rosie was the only starting senior and Hayes was a freaking freshie, not to mention the literal baby of the whole 9th grade. Everyone else on the team was a mix of sophomores and juniors, sophomores being the majority to fill out the 10-women roster.

That's what made them so dangerous and Coach Gordon so ardent. He had at least two solid years of greatness left with this current team. And since his team had been able to go far on their run to states last year... everybody better watch out if they knew what was good for them.

Sacred Heart was coming for blood.

Figuratively.

For the most part.

Hayes needed a band-aid at some point in the first half when someone managed to scratch her arm up.

Glen absentmindedly chewed on his thumb nail, literally depicting the sort of game that has been happening for the past 30 minutes.

Nail-biting.

He and the rest of the people in the gymnasium could easily predict that the ending would not be any different.

Sacred Heart would be playing their absolute hardest until the final whistle and the same could be said about the Hawks.

Fight to the death!

Dun dun dun.

Glen spectated as the Sacred Heart girls were currently pressing with full court man-to-man defense. Having the clock not on their side, they needed to put as much pressure as possible against the opposing team, forcing them into a corner and making a mistake.

He watched with wide, attentive eyes as the Hawks needed to inbound the basketball from the baseline but the girl couldn't find an open player.

Glen was super impressed to see Hayes tasked with guarding the fastest and arguably the best player in the league.

Hayes worked hard to earn her spot; her talent, grit, and determination knew no bounds.

That's his sister!

Light on the balls of her feet and her head on a constant swivel, Hayes made her move to jump the passing lane as the Hawks tried to throw the basketball in to their top tier point guard.

Hayes correctly read the play, and with her speed, she was able to steal the basketball by the very tips of her fingers, just before it could reach its intended target.

In a blink of an eye, Hayes gained control of the ball, pivoting on her right foot and successfully dumping the basketball to her teammate who sprinted towards the open basket.

It was a quick two points off the corner of the backboard, bringing the score now to 41 to 45.

The Sacred Heart crowd went wild, feet stomping on the metal bleachers as Glen stuck his pinkies in his mouth for a loud whistle.

Down four points with a minute thirty seconds left to play.

Two baskets was all they needed to tie the game.

They could win this thing.

The clock stopped as the other team immediately called a time-out to regroup, since obviously their plan didn't work out quite the way they intended it too. The Hawks' Coach wasn't stupid by any means, and knew he needed to change up their plays if he wanted to win the game.

The coach looked just about on the verge of losing his shit, almost as if he was about to pull every last piece of hair out of his head. Talk about being animated and also very stressed.

No, no.

Without a doubt, Glen knew he and Hayes would agree on the idea that he looked like a crazed animal. Thank God he wasn't anywhere close in personality to their own respective coaches. His too-heated behavior would make the kids too nervous to ever be able to play for him.

It was a major contrast to Coach Gordon, the Sacred Heart girls' varsity coach, who calmly stood up from his chair and held his hands out to slap palms with his players as they jogged over to the bench. Or in Hayes' case, slowly walked over with her hands laced together on top of her head as she tried to slow her breathing and heart rate.

The girl felt so out of breath, it was like all her conditioning had just went poof, gone.

Adios.

As she was trying to suck air back into her lungs through her mouth, she overhead the Hawk's Coach talking about her from the other side of half court. That's how boisterous he was, unfortunately.

"That girl is single handedly beating your asses! Pick your head up and look at your surroundings. You're throwing the game away!"

Give that man a snickers... he sounded a little hangry.

Glen lightly bounced on the balls of his feet as he swung his arms back and forth. The high energy level was contagious throughout the gym as there was a decent sized crowd that had shown up for Sacred Heart. They balanced out the rowdy home crowd, mixed of families, students, and local fans who had shown up in support of their team.

It was nice to see such a exuberant fan base for a girls' game, since most nights the crowd didn't build until the start of the boys' match. But not here, this crowd had been popping since the toss.

Predictably for an away-game, the majority of Sacred Heart's cheer squad were the parents and siblings of the ten players.

Austin was the lone brother in attendance that night in support of Hayes, not including Glen and Colton.

Francis was suppose to be there, but then Austin found out about the math test he apparently had the next day and hadn't prepared for at all. So, Francis was subsequently grounded and left at home to study.

Baker was stuck doing overtime at work which was nothing new, and Dakota had been in a seriously grumpy mood to put it nicely and couldn't care to be a supportive brother tonight. Austin didn't push, because when Dakota got like that, it was often better to just let him stew in silence.

But nothing would ever stop Austin from showing up and supporting his siblings if he could help it.

Glen found it quite comical how easily Austin was able to infiltrate the 'dads group', having had the entertainment of seeing the exact moment when Austin was taken under their wings as soon as he arrived to the gym. He fit right in, still dressed in his business clothes but with the sleeves casually rolled up and the top two buttons undone after a long day at work.

Daddy Austin.

Glen couldn't help but snicker.

The only difference between him and the other dads was the blonde luscious hair he still had in contrast to the graying companions.

It was random times like these when Glen realized how similar he was to any one of his brothers. He hadn't really noticed it before since the family unit didn't interact much with those outside of the home, but Austin was a total social butterfly.

Just like him!

And Emerson - boy, he took it to a whole other level. The 21-year-old would be perfectly content talking the ears off a brick wall and never know the difference.

Then there was Dakota, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum of extrovert-ness, who was more likely to punch someone in the face than willingly talk to people beyond three seconds. Which was why working construction was the perfect job for him since he never had to talk to people. It also helped that it was physical labor all day long in the sun so he came home tired and worn out.

Hayes was like that too, but without the violence aspect.

She wasn't much of a people person if it wasn't already apparent.

Glen winced as the obnoxious time buzzer sounded. It was just something he could never get use to, no matter how many games he had been too, whether now or when he and Hayes used to attend Patrick's basketball games. Such a harsh, high-pitched sound and he never knew when it was coming.

The timekeeper hit the buzzer for the second warning, alerting the two teams to return to the court where the two referees waited.

Hawks' ball.

Hayes pinched her eyes closed and briefly massaged her temples with her thumbs. This was quite possibly the worst timing to be getting a pounding headache.

She had felt in slowly brewing in the back of her head the whole game, but now it was making itself known.

"You okay, Powers?"

Hayes reopened her eyes, seeing Coach Gordon's concerned, blurry face in her vision. She blinked away the scattered black spots as she nodded in affirmative.

It was totally a lie, but what else was she suppose to say?

No?

No thanks.

He copied her nod, albeit not even a little bit convinced but selfishly wanting to keep her in the game, knowing the current 5 girls on the floor was their best chance at winning the game.

This young girl in particular was too good to sit the bench at such a critical time.

And so, with an encouraging pat on her shoulder, he sent her off to continue playing.

Hayes, Rosie the fearless team captain, the other guard Shawna, and two forwards, Gabby and Cynthia, played basically the entirety of the game in their respective positions. The five of them worked extremely well together in the ebb and flow of the match.

There were only two times when a substitute came in. The first was when Rosie was pulled to sit on the bench when she got her third foul, right at the end of the second quarter before halftime.

Then in the second half, Hayes had the privilege of sitting for a solid two minutes in the midst of the third quarter when she ran dead straight into a pick, getting the wind knocked out of her.

It was a scary few seconds for everyone, especially her brothers, when Hayes was laid flat out on the court, struggling to take in a full breath of air. If it wasn't for Colton assisting Coach Gordon and the athletic trainer in helping Hayes remain calm, the girl probably wouldn't have returned in the game.

But now she expected nothing less but a gnarly bruise on her sternum by the time morning came around for the ordeal she went through.

Speaking of Rosie though, the senior girl was fired up as she slapped Hayes in the butt for some good ole encouragement as Hayes walked past her to get into position. When Hayes turned her head to scowl at her, Rosie grinned.

"Let's get this bread, girlie!"

Rosie was crazy.

No wonder she and Francis were good friends.

————

The referee blew the whistle, extending his arm out towards half court.

Play on.

This time, Hayes wasn't playing as tight a defense as she probably should have been on her assigned player, Number 7, allowing the Hawks to get the basketball inbounded.

But then Hayes pounced, making up for her mistake as she forced the player to work hard. No matter which way the girls tried to turn, Hayes didn't falter from her defensive stance - her knees bent, feet agile, arms stretched out wide to block any openings.

Unfortunately, it chewed up some time off the clock for Sacred Heart. Before the referee could call for a 10 second violation, the point guard successfully maneuvered her way methodically past the half court line. Hayes stayed in front of her player the whole way as the rest of Sacred Heart's defense retreated back to the three point arc.

They were still playing man-to-man defense, like Hayes' team had been doing the whole night. And, she was still tasked with defending their point guard which was extremely taxing, but her and Shawna had been switching back and forth throughout the game to take breaks. They were the two fastest players on the team whom were able to keep up with Number 7.

The clock continued to tick down.

1:19.

1:18.

1:17.

The point guard called for an isolation play to the left side of the court, cueing their forward to come up and set a solid screen on Hayes.

"Screen left!" Gabby, one of Hayes' teammates immediately called out the pick, letting her know what was coming.

Hayes decided to go above the screen, wading her leg out in time to squeeze by and stay tight with Number 7. But instead of making a move by driving down the lane to score a layup, the offensive player backed out, creating some space between her and Hayes.

Oh come on, Hayes inwardly groaned.

A blip of annoyance crossed her face as she realized that their goal wasn't to add points to their lead. Instead, the Hawks were trying to waste as much time off the game clock as possible, while basically playing a game of keep-away.

What are they, five years old?

Made the other team look mighty pathetic in Hayes' young eyes.

Getting a boost of much-needed adrenaline from the vexation, Hayes amped up her defensive position even more, if that was possible. Swallowing back down the sudden urge to vomit, Hayes was quick on her feet and her hands nimble as she accepted the challenge to retrieve the basketball.

She had enough of this child's play.

Hayes' keen eye waited for the exact moment to knock the ball out of the Hawks guard's hands.

That's what happens when someone gets too cocky with their dribbling.

Suckers.

But before Hayes could track down the now loose basketball and sprint off, she felt a strong nudge to her upper back at the same time her legs somehow got tangled up with someone's foot and she went sprawling forward. Unable to salvage her balance on her feet, Hayes stumbled out-of-control a couple steps before just barely managing to catch herself on her outstretched hands.

Hayes breathed out heavily as she avoided a faceplant against the wood floor.

Okay, ow.

That was a close one.

Was that payback for her 'suckers' thought?

Her nose wrinkled.

She didn't think she said that aloud, did she?

Instantly the whistle blew for stoppage of play as everyone in the crowd went in an uproar.

Good thing too, because Hayes would not have recovered even close to fast enough to be able to still make a viable play on the ball. Her head pounded at the rate of her heart, which was beating way to fast to begin with.

The referee called the obvious offensive foul on Number 7 as everyone and their blind mother could see that Hayes was blatantly pushed in the back.

"HEY!" Glen flung his hands up in the air, his mouth dropped open.

"What happened?"

Glen flinched when Colton magically appeared at his side. His older brother's frown became more pronounced when he realized it was his sister on the floor once again.

"Give her a tech!" The Sacred Heart crowd did not sound happy in the slightest. It was very much so a vile attack on Hayes, as Number 7 did not make a play on the basketball. "T her up!"

From across the way, Austin was sitting tensely in the bleachers. He sat up straight, with his arms crossed firmly crossed against his chest, reminding himself that he couldn't jump out of his seat like a madman and rescue Hayes from this chaos.

He was pretty much this rigid the whole game. For some reason unbeknownst to him, this particular match had been above and beyond more physical than any others that Hayes had played in thus far. While his little sister took it like a champ and simply saw it as another challenge to conquer, Austin was having a really hard time being a spectator from the stands.

He just couldn't understand why the St. Louis Hawks had some sort of vendetta against his little girl. Were they that insecure about their odds of winning that they sought out Hayes to attack simply because she was the smallest?

If there was one thing everyone in that gym could agree on, the freshman was tough as nails.

Pardon his French, but it was a fucking high school girls' basketball regular season game, for Christ's sake, not the national championship and it most certainly wasn't the MMA.

He knew Colton certainly felt the same way as more than once, Austin had seen Colton throw his arms up in the air in disbelief when Hayes was clobbered and no foul was called. He was sure Colton, who was normally calm as a cucumber during games, traded some not nice words with the refs when Hayes had the wind knocked out of her.

Continuing on with this note, for everyone's sake, it was definitely a good thing Baker and Dakota weren't present because Austin wouldn't have been able to stop the both of them from the scene they'd make over this bullshit.

"Holy fucking hell on a cactus."

There was no hesitation as the words smoothly slipped out of Hayes' mouth, the girl swearing under her breath. It took her a second to realize what she even just said, her brain a little slow functioning at the moment.

Hayes immediately winced as she risked a peek up to the bleachers to the general area where she last saw her eldest brother. Welp, let's hope Austin didn't hear that with his supersonic skills. She wasn't keen on letting him know that Dakota's inappropriate vocabulary was beginning to mingle with her sweetness.

Hayes bent her knees so that she was squatting now as she recovered, her palms laid flat on the floor. She took several slow deep breathes, waiting out the lingering pain in her back. She slowly twisted her head this way and that, feeling some satisfying cracks in her neck.

The headache was still present and very much throbbing, as it sounded like blood was rushing through her ears and felt like a band was wrapped around her head, squeezing tight.

For the second time all season, the smile slowly began to falter from her lips, starting with the edges that were threatening to dip downward.

This was starting not to be fun anymore.

This was not what she signed up for.

Multiple pairs of feet stepped into her peripheral vision as she felt several hands land on her back, eager to help her up. Rosie's face appeared right in front of her as the captain took her responsibility seriously for making sure the young girl was alright.

"You good?" Rosie asked, her grip briefly tightening around Hayes' upper arm when she sort of teetered to the side in a dizzy spell before getting her balance back.

As a knee-jerk response, Hayes shook her head in the positive, a ping of pain hitting her hard. Hayes bit her lip as she resisted the urge to cry when the nauseous feeling returned. Black spots floated across her vision again, making her blink a couple times to get rid of them. It felt like the band was continuing to tighten around her whole head, the pressure building relatively fast.

Rosie hesitantly dropped her hand, scrutinizing Hayes as she could see there was obviously something bubbling up in her head. But unless the girl relented, Rosie had no way of knowing what that something was.

Hayes brushed off Rosie's stare, propping her hands on her hips as she continued taking slow, calming breaths. Her gaze darted around the gym, not focusing on anything as she tried to think her way out of this situation.

Her eyes landed on Glen and Colton, identical frowns on their faces as they seemed to be staring right back at her.

She must've subconsciously taken a step in her brothers' direction as Rosie suddenly grabbed her arm again, stopping Hayes before she could walk away, "Hold on, hold on, no rush."

Hayes' eyes flickered up to meet Rosie's green eyes that were filled with concern.

"You ladies need the athletic trainer?" One of the referees approached, breaking up their unofficial little team huddle. Behind him, Coach Gordon was anxiously awaiting to see if he was needed. Everyone knew that the moment he crossed onto the basketball court to check on her, Hayes would have to be benched for a whistle.

They needed her on the court.

The young girl kept quiet as she fought the urge to shut down.

But all of this was becoming too much for her.

"Hayes, do you need to sit down?" Rosie asked her point blank, trying to catch her eye. There was no judgement in her voice. If the girl wanted out, then so be it. Hayes gave more than her fair share of heart during the game, no one would penalize her.

Hayes glanced back to where her brothers remained on high alert, watching her every move.

What would Glen do if he was in her shoes?

Stupid Glennard.

She knew his answer.

Don't quit till you got nothing left.

Hayes mutely rubbed her arm from the ghost of a punch Glen would for sure have delivered at the end of that statement.

And now Hayes knew her answer.

Curse him and his annoying words of wisdom.

She closed her eyes tight before reopening them.

Her blue eyes that had begun to dull its brightness now held a gleam of grit. Not the same as before, but there was still a spark.

This better be one delicious loaf of bread.

Hayes met Rosie's stare straight on. "Where's that bread at?"

"Yeahhhh," her four teammates immediately got fired back up as they huddled closer, a bounce in their steps as they took turns patting Hayes supportively on the back. Rosie stuck her right hand in the middle of their circle, the other girls layering their hand on top with Hayes being last. They leaned their heads in together so they could hear each other without having to scream their lungs out.

That's how loud the gym was right then.

Everyone could see the momentum shifting before their very eyes.

"You heard her, ladies. The bakery is fucking open for business," Rosie declared, her tenacity unwavering as she purposefully glanced at each one of them. "Win on three. One, two, three--"

"WIN."

Hayes' hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly into fists as she followed behind Rosie to the baseline to retrieve the inbound pass. As point guard, it was her responsibility to get the basketball up the court.

She bounced lightly on her feet, keeping her body loose as she tucked a loose end of her jersey back into her gym shorts.

Still down four points.

They can do this.

Interestingly, the Hawks decided not to apply full court pressure on defense, their stupid mistake. Hayes comfortably jogged across the squeaking hardwood floor, dribbling the basketball in her left hand as she kept her head up, scanning for the open move. She didn't call for any specific play, as Coach Gordon appreciated a fluid offense rather than a set playbook.

So did Hayes.

Hayes did her best to pay no attention to the achy ness in her head, but every step she took was like a jolt straight to her brain. The pounding of the basketball against the floor echoed inside her, making her want to vomit.

Was it the stress of the game?

Or

Stress from the bigger game called life?

Hard to say.

And jeez louis, when did these overhead gym lights get so bright? It felt like high beams, practically blinding the girl as she had to squint to be able see in front of her.

Powering through her struggles, Hayes briskly passed the ball ahead to Shawna, proceeding to cut down the lane with her hand up before popping back out to the three point line like second nature. Number 7 stayed tight on Hayes' tail, not allowing the basketball to be thrown back to her.

She had been a top notch defender the whole game, but her fellow Hawks teammates must not of had a lot of faith in her anymore because another defender was also encroaching towards Hayes to double-team the girl.

This left Rosie wide open underneath the basket for a slick bounce pass down the lane. She turned and shot the ball off the corner of the backboard, the contender coming in too late to try and stop her.

The bucket and one!

43-45 Hawks.

The defender was called for her fourth foul, so Rosie got the two points for her basket and a bonus shot at the foul line.

This was fortunate for Sacred Heart, but not such good news for the Hawks, as they had a 93% success rate with free throws. So it was no surprise when Rosie watched the basketball soar effortlessly into the hoop.

44-45 Hawks.

51 seconds left on the game clock.

Sacred Heart didn't run scenarios very similar to this one during practice just for shits and giggles. Coach Gordon knew exactly what he was doing when he put his team through the paces over and over again.

Hayes was ready to play.

Then throw up.

Or throw up, then play.

Not giving another second to think about it, Hayes forced herself to ignore her ever-increasing headache and focus on the game.

Neither team called a time-out, letting them play on without interruption. It was the Hawks' possession of the ball once again, their team very obviously becoming frustrated as one of their players smacked the basketball with one of her hands as she stalked over to the baseline.

Did they forget they still had the game advantage... because, uh, they were still winning.

Hayes bit her lip to hide her threatening smirk, her competitive nature deciding to return for the end of the game.

Not such a poised championship team now, huh?

"Purple! Purple!" Coach Gordon suddenly yelled out from their bench, switching up their defense from man coverage to now zone. It took Hayes three milliseconds to even remember what exactly that meant, as they normally only played man-to-man defense.

A little confused, Hayes glanced around to see what her teammates were doing, before immediately hustling back to where they were setting up. This coverage only involved the Hawks' half of the court.

Hayes fell into place beside Shawna, where they guarded the top of the key in sort of no-man's land. A decent amount of space was between them, but with their arms spread out wide, it created an illusion of having nowhere to run.

"DE-FENSE,

DE-FENSE!"

The Sacred Heart crowd yelled out nonstop, Glen's voice trumping all else, combined with the noise of people still stomping their feet on the bleachers rumbling throughout.

"Now!" They could barely hear when Coach Gordon ordered their attack.

As soon as Number 7, the Hawks' point guard, crossed half court, Hayes and Shawna sprung forward, giving the Hawks' ball-handler no time to counter-act their presence as suddenly there were two defenders in her face.

Unbelievable. Their star player choked.

Like taking candy from a baby, Shawna managed to get a hold of the basketball, practically ripping it away into her possession. This keyed Hayes in to take off sprinting down the court for the fast-break lay-up. Her arms pumped up and down as she ran as fast as she could, the movement causing her heartbeat to feel loud in her head.

Shawna launched the ball like a rocket up the basketball court for Hayes to catch in perfect stride. She did as such, able to take one step before leaping off the floor from her right leg for the left-handed lay-up. Just as she raised her arm up to release the basketball, a defender's arm came down hard, striking Hayes hard across both of her own arms for another foul.

Ouchie.

The ball hit the rim before ricocheting away as a whistle was blown. The referee rewarded Hayes with two free shots at the foul line.

A quick glance at the scoreboard read 35 seconds left in the game.

Hayes' four teammates quickly surrounded her, checking to make sure she was okay. It was their voracious energy that kept her from bowing out now.

This was it.

They could take the lead with these two points.

No pressure or anything.

Hayes plodded over to the foul line as she shook out her arms from the tingles. Facing the basket, she bent her head downward as she lined her footwork up correctly. Right foot directly in the middle where, if one looked closely enough,  the tiniest of nails was impaled, marking the center.

As the players lined up in their respective spots on either side of the foul lane, Hayes took the time to breathe. Her shoulders moved up and down with the dramatic motion, in through the nose then out through the mouth.

When she was ready, the referee passed her the basketball.

Well, now Houston this was a problem.

As soon as Hayes looked up at the basketball hoop, the girl was blinded from those high-beam lights. She instantly pinched her eyes shut as she turned her head down and away from the burning luminescent light. But the damage was already done. In an instant, it felt like her headache was turned up ten notches.

Everything was silent.

And then it wasn't.

All at once, noise attacked Hayes from every direction. There was screaming or cheering, she didn't know what, from the stands and from the two team benches.

She could feel her head was pulsating nonstop.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

It was happening so quickly, like nanoseconds. She felt like she was losing control as the invisible band wrapped around her head was squeezing infinitely tighter.

Think, Hayes, think.

Think.

Thinking.

Sitzfleisch.

German origin. Noun. The power to persevere in an activity; a person's butt.

Hayes blinked.

Silence.

Woah, Hayes wasn't sure where that came from. Did English class just come in handy?

Hayes tested her luck, taking a deep breath in and out.

Whatever speared that thought, it worked.

This time, without dare sparing a look up, she realigned her stance so her right foot was once again planted in the middle, a sliver of space between her sneaker and the solid white line.

She positioned her hands correctly on the basketball and got into her shooting stance.

Now the easy part and also risky.

God bless muscle memory.

Not making the same mistake twice, Hayes kept her eyes tightly shut as she lifted her chin up. Before she knew it, her body automatically went through the motion of shooting the ball.

She could feel the mechanics working properly, the leather ball feeling good as it rolled off her fingertips. Finished with the follow-through, just like sticking her hand in a cookie jar.

That was her favorite part.

Her stomach grumbled at the innocent thought of chocolate chip cookies.

SWOOSH.

That time, it was the basketball making the noise and not her head.

Hayes' eyes popped open as the crowd went wild having watched the basketball soar through the net, tying the game up.

45-45.

Hayes could pick out Glen's obnoxious cheers from anywhere, her eyes darting to where he was, the teen practically jumping up and down in his spot as he pumped his fists in the air.

Next to him, Colton had his hands curled together creating a megaphone for his mouth. "Way to go, Sunshine!"

Her brothers' genuine excitement and words of encouragement wrapped around her in a hug, giving her the necessary strength she needed to continue.

Boy, was she tired and hurting.

But just one more.

If she made this next shot, Sacred Heart would take the lead.

She just needed to make this free throw.

Oh no.

Like a switch, she suddenly felt her heart starting to race out of control again as the pressure of the game was beginning to build inside her. At least the headache was momentarily forgotten, instead leaving her panicked as the game was in her hands.

Abort, abort, abort.

Hayes took a step back from the line, her hands beginning to tremor by her sides.

She can't do this.

Now she was the one choking.

A sharp whistle broke through her mental breakdown. Subconsciously, her mind reacted to the sound in an instant, a calmness sprinkling over her before Hayes even realized.

Her brain knew that whistle.

Austin.

Hayes snapped her head over to where she spotted her eldest brother standing amongst the middle-aged dads. He lowered his left thumb and index fingers from his mouth and pointed at her with his right hand. It was like Austin was able to read her mind as he spoke to her. The sound never reached her, but she read his lips.

You can do this.

Her.

She.

Sunshine.

It didn't feel like she had even done anything to deserve it, but the look of pride on his face was clear as day.

He was proud of her.

The emotionally drained, physically pained, and extremely tired girl sniffed, not allowing the tears to escape her eyes.

Win or lose, his love and support for his little girl would never falter.

Hayes shook her head to clear the rest of her needless thoughts, regretting the movement as soon as she did it. Headache, right. Almost forgot about you.

Then she lifted her shoulders up towards her ears in concordance with the deep breath she took, releasing any remaining tension before finally setting up her shooting stance for hopefully the last time tonight.

Right foot lined up behind the nail, smack-dab in the center. Left foot shoulder-width apart and slightly staggered back for good balance.

Hayes welcomed the new thought that randomly crossed her mind in the moment, one that didn't make her heart race like the speed of the racecars in the Indy500.

It was just that everything she learned about the game of basketball, including her love for it, stemmed from the many late nights at the old park in Dead Oak, Florida, under the stars and moon.

When life was simple in a weird, convoluted way.

Her and Glen, just two kids and a basketball.

That's all this was.

Her and Glen, playing a game of horse until the park lights went out.

Simple.

Fun.

The basketball landed in her hands, courtesy of the referee. Hayes' fingers appreciated the feel of the worn leather as they naturally settled into position without her even having to look.

Hayes bent her right elbow, making sure it was securely tucked against her side.

Because she was not about to miss this shot.

Her eyelids fluttered shut, blocking out the blinding brightness and ignoring her pounding headache.

A breath of air passed through her slightly parted lips.

She can do this.

————

The roar of the crowd was absolutely deafening.

"Hawks called a 30 second time out. The score is now 46 to 45, Sacred Heart with the one point lead." The announcer could barely get the words out in complete sentences.

The two teams separated to their respective benches, angry mutterings coming from the Hawks' players. Multiple smacks, pats, and words of praise from her teammates greeted Hayes as she jogged over. Coach Gordon gave her a high-five, holding her hand hostage for a second as he smiled at her.

Atta girl, Powers.

All the jostling around gave Hayes a bit of a nauseous feeling once more so she took a couple steps back to create space for her own sake. She bent over at the waist, resting her hands on her knees as she gulped back down some vomit.

Nasty.

A brief, evil idea crossed her mind to test if Francis would puke from her retelling this night's events.

Hayes laughed quietly to herself before reminding herself to focus. She could hear words being said by Coach Gordon to the five of them whom were playing, but she didn't tune in to what he was actually saying. Eh, if it was important, she was sure someone would say it again.

In too quick of a fashion to have been 30 seconds, one of the refs blew their whistle and then the buzzer sounded.

The two for one whammy felt like a rocket blast went off in Hayes' head as she suddenly moaned in pain.

Dang it.

A hand pulled her upright, bringing Coach Gordon's face into her view. "I know you're tired, Hayes, I can see it on your face. I can see you're hurting. But now is when I need you to leave it all on the court. 35 seconds, that's all I'm asking."

"Coach," Hayes closed her eyes as tilted her head back, struggling to give him the answer he wanted. Hadn't she done enough?

"35 seconds," he repeated with persuasion before calling back the four other girls. "Hey, look at me. We didn't fight this hard to give up in the last minute."

"No, Coach," the girls responded, minus Hayes who simply had enough energy to actually listen this time.

"35 seconds," Coach Gordon stated for the third time as the obnoxious buzzer went off for the second time. He stuck his hand out flat, the rest of the team all piling their hands in.

Someone nudged Hayes' arm, forcing her eyes open. She stared at the hands before reluctantly adding her right hand on top.

"35 seconds," Hayes mumbled.

"Win on 3. one, two, three—," Rosie called out.

"WIN."

Bread.

————

"Final score, 48-45."

Hayes pulled up the collar of her sweat-stained jersey, covering her mouth with the wet fabric as she walked in line to shake hands with the other team.

The monotonous "good game," was on repeat for the girl, as she was not actually seeing who she was speaking to or caring, for that matter. It was kind of ironic to be doing this as the Hawks had shown her anything but good sportsmanship.

All she could pay attention to was the mantra, "do not puke, do not puke."

The last 35 seconds of the game went by relatively quickly. Now losing, the Hawks did manage to get a decent shot off in a timely manner, but the basketball bounced off the rim into the hands of Rosie. She quickly passed the ball up to Hayes who then launched it to Shawna for the break-away lay-up for another two points.

By then, the game was basically over but in the last 5 seconds, Number 7 on the Hawks somehow sucker-punched Hayes in the gut and got away with it with no foul called.

Which is what led to Hayes praying to all who is holy, to not throw up all over the basketball court right then and there. Done with displaying whatever sportsmanship she could care enough to manage, Hayes found herself standing behind her team bench. She gripped the top of one of the chairs with both her hands as she slouched over, her head ducked between her arms.

She could feel the presence of her teammates, all joyous as they gathered up the bags, water bottles, and other scattered equipment, riding the high from beating the reigning state champs.

Whoopee doo.

A random water bottle was shoved in her face as a hand gripped her shoulder.

Go away.

Hayes turned her head away from the offering, unable to even think about drinking anything.

Don't puke, don't you dare puke...

"Hayes, what's wrong?" Rosie's voice somehow broke through all the static noise she was hearing.

"Get Austin," Hayes mumbled, the words sounding foreign to her own ears.

"Okay," Rosie replied, "Okay, I'll go get him. Hold on."

Hayes could only hope Rosie actually did as she said, because Hayes was not feeling good at all. She rubbed her right cheek against her arm, unsure if it was sweat or tears that was creating the yucky sticky feeling.

Her vision kept going in and out, so Hayes just shut her eyes completely to solve that problem. By now her headache had intensified to the most pain yet, making the young girl feel like her head was about to explode.

Hayes' bottom lip wobbled as she continued to get more upset over her current circumstances. She could not recall ever feeling this sort horrible in her life.

She wanted her brother.

"Talk to me, baby." the soothing tone of her eldest brother had never sounded better in the moment.

Austin kneeled down beside his little sister, already having somewhat of an idea of what he was walking into. He could feel and see her distress from a mile away.

Not bothered by her sweaty jersey, his right hand began drawing small, circular shapes on her lower back as he quietly comforted her, calmed her down.

It also helped that Coach Gordon escorted the rest of the team out to the hallway to continue their celebrations, taking away any extra noise.

Coach Colton had his boys' team drop their bags at the other end of the bench as they ran by to go warm up, giving the girl all the space she needed.

"I don't feel so good," Hayes whimpered, finally able to admit it aloud.

"I know, baby," Austin hummed, reaching up with his left hand and gently brushing some of her wild hair out of her face. She had yet to open her eyes and actually look at him. "What hurts?"

Everything.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Hayes moaned, really dizzy all of a sudden. "Austin, I have to throw up."

"Okay, baby," Austin stood up, keeping his right hand around her waist as he grabbed her left arm with his other hand. "Let's go outside," he spoke calmly, his eyes flickering to the nearby double doors that led to the fresh air. It was much closer than the bathrooms or an available trashcan.

"Austin," her voice broke, paining him.

"We're going." He guided her away from the chairs, holding up most of her weight as she stumbled alongside him. She didn't even attempt to look where they were going, her head jerking with the walking motion.

"I can't see," Hayes panicked when she tried to open her eyes but only saw darkness with random lights shooting across. "Austin, help."

"I'm right here," his voice an unwavering source of strength, "almost outside now."

Once freed from the gym, Austin immediately brought Hayes to the nearest patch of grass. Freshly cut just for this glamorous moment.

As soon as her sneaker landed on the grass, Hayes lost all willpower and vomited.

Austin's grip was the only thing keeping Hayes from meeting the ground as her limbs went weak. Her arms crossed against her stomach, tremoring like crazy. The little girl had absolutely no energy left whatsoever.

He had a small frown mar his face as he could do nothing else but support her from falling, and watched the unpleasant sight.

"You're okay, Sunshine, you're okay," he continued to soothe her as Hayes began to sob as she gagged.

This whole day had just been too much for her.

Austin knew Hayes didn't eat much lunch from what she was currently throwing up. And from what he remembered, she only had a banana and yogurt for breakfast.

Mostly liquid, mixed with some red bits.

That would be the twizzlers that Baker had left last night at their house. Austin noticed that a good chunk of the pack had disappeared from the kitchen pantry this morning.

How lovely.

That was one mystery solved.

Hayes moved so now she weakly gripped his arm that was wrapped around her chest, laying her head against it like a pillow. Austin took this hint to be that she had nothing left in her system, and gently pulled her back to the sidewalk, away from the puke zone.

Her sobs swiftly died down to silent tears with the occasional sniffle as all the hype settled.

"I'm tired," she finally whispered.

"I know," Austin kissed her head.

"But I feel better now," Hayes added in the same quiet tone. It was true, it no longer felt like a hammer was pounding away at her head. She just felt really, really worn out.

"You do?" Austin wasn't too, too surprised to hear that, but that didn't mean he wasn't relieved, because he absolutely was. Not unlike with parenthood, if one of his siblings was hurting, so was he.

"Just sleepy," Hayes subconsciously rubbed her cheek against his arm, the way she does when someone snuggles with her, right before she's about to close her eyes.

"Drink some water first," Austin dug an unopened bottle from his pocket. Colton had passed it to him as Austin was leading Hayes outside.

"Noooo," Hayes whined, lazily pushing the bottle away with her hand. She didn't think her stomach could handle anything.

"It'll make you feel better," Austin was persistent.

She mumbled, "Ice cream makes me feel better."

Well maybe, ice cream was an exception.

Austin shook his head amusedly, "sip some water then we'll talk."

"Deal," Hayes yawned, holding her hand out so Austin could give her the bottle. He momentarily removed his other hand to open the bottle before giving it to her. He kept the cap in his palm so she wouldn't accidently drop it.

Austin watched her hand shake from the minimal effort before helping her lift the bottle to her lips. It was evident she was thirsty, probably dehydrated, from the gulps.

A satisfied aaaah was heard after a few refreshing sips.

See? Austin knows best.

He held the bottle out in front of her with one hand in case she changed her mind and wanted more, his left hand settling back around her waist.

"I'm really proud of you tonight, Sunshine," Austin rested his cheek lightly on top of her head. "You never gave up even when you wanted to. You hung in there and showed them who's boss."

"We won, right?"

"Yep, you guys sure did." His hand briefly squeezed her side in support.

"Suckers," Hayes giggled as she pulled her jersey up to her mouth. She chewed on the collar for a quick second before letting the fabric drop back down.

Austin's lips quirked upwards, though he still reprimanded her. "We don't speak like that."

That made Hayes giggle some more when she realized she made it out unscathed from her swearing earlier. He hadn't heard her after all.

"Crazy girl," Austin pressed another chaste kiss against her head before releasing her. He capped the water bottle, stuffing it back in his pocket to try again later, as Hayes turned around to face him head on. Her face remained flushed from the excursion, and her eyes screamed with tiredness.

But she didn't look like she was about to faint, so that was a huge improvement from five minutes ago.

"Ice cream." Hayes stated as firmly as she could before giving into another yawn. She began to teeter forward, her head brushing against his shirt before she stood back up straight.

"You can't even keep your eyes open," Austin pointed out as he looped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her snug against his side before leading them back to the gym doors.

"You can't keep your eyes open," she sassed back with no heat behind her words. It was simply Hayes' sleepy delirium talking at this point which meant there was no purpose to anything Hayes said anymore.

"Okay, baby," Austin replied, bending down for a second to snatch her sports bag from behind the bench. He chucked the strap over his shoulder before shuffling Hayes along to find the bathroom. She'd probably feel even better once she washed her face and hands. He could see her teammates dispersed amongst their own families, so he assumed Hayes was free from her basketball duty for the rest of the night. There was no way she'd make it back on the bus, so the girl was officially his responsibility once again.

His favorite job.

Austin guessed she'd fall asleep beside him on the bleachers in 20 minutes max.

He shot Glen a thumb's up when the kid caught his eye, getting a grin in return. Always smiling, his little brother. After everything he's been through, his smile endured.

He loved that boy so much.

Austin glanced down at his sister when he felt her try to walk off in another direction... towards the concession stand.

"There's no ice cream there," Austin chuckled, rerouting her to the bathrooms.

"Shucks, he noticed," Hayes mumbled. Her head tilted upward to look at him, her eyes squinting to sharpen her vision. "Hi."

He graced her with a smile. 'I love you."

Austin grabbed the bathroom door handle to the ladies' room, pulling it open for the girl to enter.

Hayes mirrored his smile, a mischievous twinkle appearing in her blue eyes. "I love me too," she replied before slinking past him and through the doorway.

Austin sighed lightly, his heart happy, as he went to lean against the opposing wall in wait for his little girl to come back out.

Another day had come and gone.

And they made it out alright.

————

6:14 am, the next morning, AKA Tuesday morning, AKA Glen's favorite day of the week.

Bright, carefree laughter floated down the staircase in the wake of the young girl as she hurried up them, her messily tied-back ponytail swinging wildly behind her. She scrambled up the carpeted stairs so fast, using her hands to push off each step as if they would give her a boost.

Hayes could sense her eldest brother, more than hear, as he nimbly chased after her with his long legs and ape-length arms.

He had warned her to be quiet, so she didn't disturb the whole house but alas, the temptation was too much so early in the morning. She had one mission on her mind and that was to wake up her hooligan brothers for school.

The 6:15am Austin alarm was set to go off any second in the form of Hayes.

Watch out brothers, here comes Sunshine!

To be continued...

:)

~~~~

See you in a month, seriously for real, for real. Back to studying, dudes.

OH btw, the end is coming soon (muahahahaha only I know the future). I'm betting 5 chapters, but we'll see how much I go off-path to get there.