I fell in love with Bella and the Bulldogs and just had to write this little introspective, experimental vignette!

Companion piece to Confessions: Troy Dixon

Rated K+ for Kooky Thoughts

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Bella and the Bulldogs.

Bella had been called many things in the three years since she had become a starting quarterback. Crazy, unwomanly, rowdy, and some other pretty derogatory insults. She usually just ignored them. They didn't bother her anyway, and she had known that entering a sport usually considered for men was going to be met with some backlash and opposition.

But for the first time in a long time, she finally was starting to believe they might be right.

Was she insane?

Because there was no way she could actually like "Golden Boy" Troy.

The most annoying, smart-ass, cocky person she had ever met.

But there she was in The Lone Starcade watching him get congratulated by friends and family for their team's playoff victory and realizing she had been gazing at him for far too long. And this wasn't the first time this had happened either! Bella was glad the standard football uniforms had helmets because she sure as hell wouldn't be able to hide her blush if anyone caught her ogling him when he was shirtless or when he did his little touchdown dances (he had such an adorable butt).

And it was poison to her concentration and her performance in games! All she could think about was him. His sexy grins and smirks, his deep, smooth voice, the lithe muscles of his arms. And even though it pained her to admit, she wouldn't be lying if she said that the highlight of her day was their verbal spars and the one-on-one time she had during practice with him. It got to the point where she would actively seek him out, and she would be generally disconcerted if he didn't come to school.

She hated the way he made her feel all giggly and girly because most of the time, she couldn't stand him. His infuriating arrogance regarding his skills, his stupid smugness when he beat her at a drill, his warm hugs that he didn't even realize left her a jumbled mess of conflicting emotions. And she couldn't stand it because those were the traits that she also loved about him.

As the years went on, it became increasingly obvious (and harder to ignore) that Troy was quickly replacing Kyle in her eyes. It began as the little physical things, like Troy growing much taller, and then Troy's voice deepening from puberty, and then Troy building muscle and no longer being the scrawny preteen he used to be. From there, it escalated into more intimate things she noticed as their friendship grew. Like how he would joke inappropriately about the coach to cheer her up when she would get yelled at for messing up. Or how on her dad's birthday, he would take her to the park to throw around a football and then buy her gelato just like her dad used to. Or how he would always sacrifice his reputation to make sure she was happy.

To be honest, nothing about him even really annoyed her anymore. His once derisive comments were now exhilarating and a challenge. The sarcasm and dry humour that would make her roll her eyes now made her laugh for ages. The once irritating aloof disregard he would show when they would get into intense verbal fights that made her want to claw out his eyes now made her want to hop into his arms and kiss him senseless. And dammit, everything he did turned her on now.

If she were to be perfectly honest with herself… She had it bad.

She was terrifyingly trapped in the tornado that was Troy fever, and there was no going back.

She tried to overlook these things to an extent. After all, it didn't do to be extremely attracted to your wide receiver. And any kind of nonprofessional relationship between them could severely alter the team dynamic, but it was hard. He had a way of pulling her into his wavelength and affecting her with everything he said or did. Despite his haughty behaviour at times, Troy was truly kind-hearted and sweet. He was always supportive of his friends and others, and he was loyal and dedicated to the people he cared about to a fault. Coupled with his charm and how handsome he was, he was the ideal boyfriend material for a lot of girls, which annoyed her to bits and pieces. She couldn't count the number of times she had to stop herself from punting a football at those annoying, tittering fangirls in the stands. She just knew it was only a matter of time before she lost him to another girl, something that scared her to no end.

And it was there, surrounded by celebrating, rambunctious teens, smoothie in hand, flabbergasted look on her face that Bella Dawson finally admitted to herself that she had fallen for Troy Dixon. Hard.