Title: Change my Mind
Author:Sportafan
Rating: PG-13 for a bit of mild language and some innuendo, if you squint
Summary:Stephanie has always admired Sportacus, but when she begins to develop a crush on him, Sportacus pushes her away. Hurt by the rejection, Stephanie is able to find comfort, and eventually, love in an unexpected place.
Disclaimer:I neither own LazyTown, nor am I making any profit off of my fanfiction. This is simply a way for me to pass my evenings and, hopefully, entertain people at the same time.
Author's Notes: I started writing this months ago, with every intention of finishing it before the summer. Clearly, as it is well into July now, that never happened. In fact, I only have one other chapter written. I'm hoping that by posting this up now, I'll have to finish in a timely manner, provided people are actually reading it. In any event, this is my first attempt at chaptered fanfiction. The real pairing should be pretty obvious. :-)

ENJOY!

Chapter One

"Sportacus, I love you."

She spoke with a confidence that she didn't feel. This was different from anything she'd ever done before. Certainly she had gone through many nerve-wracking experiences; competing against an enlarged dancing toy and attempting to take Sportacus' place as LazyTown's superhero were just a few such times that came to mind. But she rarely bared her heart to anyone, and it had never concerned love.

Stephanie groaned. "It feels wrong," she said.

Trixie rolled her eyes. "Sounded fine to me."

It was August, the time when summer slows down and the whole world seems to let out a collective sigh as it finishes its whirlwind of warm-weather activities. Stephanie and Trixie were seated on the brick wall that surrounded the sports field, watching the children of the town play a somewhat violent game of touch-football. Sportacus wasn't joining in on the fun, but that didn't mean he wasn't around somewhere, rescuing a kitten or scouting the area for Robbie Rotten, who hadn't stopped his attack on healthy activities even though his original victims had grown up.

"It's just three little words," Stephanie muttered under her breath as she picked at the weeds growing in between the bricks. "Why are they so hard to say?"

"You've got me," Trixie replied.

"You're not being very helpful," Stephanie accused.

"What do you want me to say?" her friend asked. "You know I'm no good at talking about my feelings." She emphasized the word as though it were taboo.

"I know."

Stephanie often found herself wishing for more girl friends. Trixie was a lot of fun to be with, but when it came to matters of the heart, you had more luck talking to a tree. And yet, she had been in a relationship with Stingy for what would be three years this winter. Stingy had surprised everyone—Trixie most of all—when he came up behind her after ice skating one afternoon, wrapped his arms around her, and whispered, "Mine," into her ear, then sealed the claim with a kiss.

There was no chance of that happening with Sportacus, though. While Trixie had confided in Stephanie about her crush years before Stingy came forward to admit his own love, Sportacus had never revealed anything about his private life to anyone. Always the listener, never the one needing help.

Do superheroes even fall in love? Stephanie wondered, not for the first time.

Thatwas the million dollar question. Peter Parker had Mary Jane, Clark Kent had Lois Lane, but what about real-life heroes? Unlike Spider-Man and Superman, Sportacus had no reason to keep his friends at a distance, not with the bumbling Robbie as his only "enemy", so there couldn't be a problem. Unless…

"What if he still sees me as a kid?" Stephanie worried her lower lip and looked over at Trixie.

But her friend's mind was clearly somewhere else. "That's a foul, Steven!" she yelled at the kids. "The game is touch-football, not run-your-opponent-into-the-ground ball!" Trixie turned back to Stephanie. "Sorry. Did you say something?"

Stephanie sighed and shook her head. "Never mind."

"Steph, we've gone through this so many times! If I wasn't able to answer your questions two days ago, do you think I'll have a solution today? Just tell himalready. It's Sportacus. You can trust him."

"Trust me with what?"

Both Stephanie and Trixie jumped a bit in surprise. As was his habit, Sportacus had seemingly appeared out of thin air and was standing beside Stephanie. Her heart sped up. If she moved her hand just a few inches, she would be able to touch his own strong hands…

Get a grip on yourself! she chided silently.

She was about to tell Sportacus it was nothing when Trixie answered his question herself. "Stephanie was just saying she wanted to talk to you about something."

Stephanie's eyes widened and she turned to gape at her friend. Why would Trixie…? How could she…? Trixie shrugged and rose, turning her attention back to the children's game. "Steven! What did I just tell you?"

Stephanie watched her friend's receding back and suddenly felt very alone. She didn't have much time to reflect on Trixie's betrayal, though, as Sportacus was looking at her expectantly.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

Stephanie's mouth went dry, and she wet her lips. "I… Uhm, that is… Well, what I want to say…" She looked down at her hands and whispered, "I love you."

"I didn't quite catch that." Sportacus leaned forward and Stephanie leaped up, unable to stand such closeness.

"I love you!" she repeated loudly.

The children suddenly quieted and when Stephanie looked over her shoulder, she found that they had stopped playing entirely and were watching with rapt attention. Trixie gave her a small smile of encouragement.

Stephanie turned back to Sportacus. Her stomach dropped. She hadn't been expecting him to return her affection, but she didn't think he would look as… baffled as he did now.

"What?"

That one word was Stephanie's undoing. Her eyes began to water and she felt unexpectedly sick. Sportacus saw this and his superhero instinct kicked in. Grabbing her hand, he led her a few yards away, where his airship hovered above them. "Water," he commanded and a bottle tumbled from the ship. He thrust it at Stephanie, who took a few careful sips.

Once she was feeling a little better, Sportacus said another word, one that made her knees want to cave out from under her:

"Explain."