Throwing A Curve
By: Gitana
Characters/Pairing: Luke, Dean and Rory - Rory/Dean
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino and Warner Brothers.
Timeline/Spoilers: Post S1 finale - Vaguely for S1
Rating: PG
Summary: The curveball was Luke's best pitch, so he threw Dean a slider.
Luke smoothly gripped the baseball in his hand, his fingers laced around the seams caressing the hard exterior. There were more people than usual in the stands. The sun was crayon yellow sliding slowly through fluffy white clouds, it was a beautiful day. The catcher signaled for a curve. Easily, Luke recorded his second strikeout of the day.
When Luke was a teenager he worked on his curveball and nothing else. He was never a great pitcher, his arm was heavy and overworked, but he had always wanted to throw a curve. There was something magical about the ball twisting and falling like an apple from a tree. When Luke was in high school he practiced the pitch for months. It was still his only good pitch. His fastball was flat, his slider too high and his change up wouldn't fool a soul. Thankfully for Luke, Stars Hollow wasn't exactly the big leagues.
It was only the first inning, but Jason Crawford, the fastest fifteen year old in Stars Hollow was already standing on first via walk and itching for second.
Today Dean was batting fourth. Randy, the usual clean up hitter was home with the flu. Dean was the only remaining decent hitter on the team, so he was naturally promoted from the third spot to the fourth. He stepped into the batter's box and Luke delicately nodded his way. Dean nodded back without the usual friendly trash talk. Luke readjusted his backwards cap and looked for the catcher's sign, a slider. Dean could hit that slider all day. Luke sighed and started his windup.
Dean held his bat over his head, waiting for the pitch. While concentrating on hitting, Dean could still hear Rory's voice cheering him on from the bleachers behind him. How he had missed that.
Luke released the ball, the pitch was supposed to glide down as it crossed the plate, fooling the hitter's eye. But everyone knew Luke always left them hanging, so there was no suspicion when the crack of Dean's bat broke the lag of the first inning. The ball sailed straight over the centerfielder's head as he quickly gave up, too high, too long.
Rory stood up proudly to applaud and hoot as Jason and Dean rounded the bases to score the two runs. They knew the game was over already. They would probably play four more innings before Luke's team gave up.
The game ended after the fifth inning left the score unchanged. Rory was sitting down on the empty bleachers waiting for Dean, already a smile and a victory hug waiting in the wings.
"That was great," she said to his sunkissed cheek.
"That was for you," he whispered to her neck as Rory sweetly embraced him.
Saying I'm sorry didn't come easy for Luke, but neither did pitching, so nobody had to know.