"I'm just worried that she's having trouble making friends. She's so quiet all the time." Marcus confided in his friend.

"She lost the only parent she ever had. She's still figuring out how to cope with everything. She moved down here. Left her school and friends. She has no stability anymore. Bellamy is the only familiar thing to her," Jake reassured him, "She's going to get comfortable with everything on her own time."

"Bellamy is adjusting so quickly it makes worry about her. He's made a few friends and has even had them over on a couple occasions. But Octavia, I don't know if she even has a single friend at school."

"How is Bellamy doing?"

"Better each day. He's sick of not being allowed to do anything but Abby assured me his ribs are healing well. He is bored out of him mind though. It's starting to drive me insane."

"Let him go out and do things," Jake grinned.

"I have been. But he just wants to play baseball already. The kid lives for it and he's not allowed to do it yet."

"How old is Octavia again?"

"Ten."

"Same age as Clarke."

Marcus nodded at his friend. Trying to figure out where he was going with this. Jake grabbed his phone and began looking something up.

"Abby is thinking about signing Clarke up for a softball league around home. They have a winter league and Clarke has mentioned it before. She doesn't know anyone else that's going to be playing. So Abby asked me if I'd volunteer to coach whatever team she ends up on."

"You're going to coach a girls softball team?" Marcus chuckled.

"I know. Makes absolutely no sense. I think Abby is just trying to get me out of the house so she can have time for herself every once in a while. But it's looking like it's going to happen. Clarke keeps asking about it. You could sign up Octavia."

"I don't know if she'd want to play."

"I think I know of a way that will make her want to play."

"How?" Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"I like watching baseball. Doesn't mean I know a damn thing about coaching it. It's a pretty short league; it'll only go into a couple weeks of Bellamy's spring training. He can do most of the coaching for all I care. It'll give him something to do."

"It's not baseball, but it's close enough and he won't be the one playing," Marcus smiled at his friend. "This could be the solution. Bellamy gets to coach it and Octavia will play it if he's coaching her."

"And she'll make some of her own friends. Plus Clarke is an easy going kid, I'm sure she'll take to Octavia."

"I'll talk to the kids tonight and let you know what they say."


Bellamy lay on the couch flipping through the channels on cable. Octavia sat on the floor in front of him, her homework all over the coffee table. She never complained about doing her homework and even enjoyed some of it. She hummed to herself as she read about Greek mythology, looking for the answers to her sheet of questions.

"You know, I could just give you the answers," Bellamy looked over at his sister.

"That's cheating," she rolled her eyes at him.

"How is it cheating? I'm not in your class."

"It's cheating cause I need to find the answers myself."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged.

He wasn't sure how many times he went through every channel, but it was safe to say there was nothing on. His mind drifted to the last few months and how they had played out. Bellamy felt like he had adjusted to his new life fairly quickly. The sun was warmer down here and he didn't mind that there was no snow to deal with. Part of him missed his home up in the mountains. It was quiet and the town he grew up in was small, everyone knew everyone. Here he was in an actual city with more people than he could count.

The school he spent all of his years at had very few students. All of the kids knew each other regardless if they were in the same grade or not. The public school he was currently attending had more students in his class alone than the amount of students attending his old high school. At first it was nerve wracking going from such a small homey place to a city. But he found he liked the city life better. The fast pace of everything suited him better.

It hadn't taken long for him to make a few friends on the baseball team. Nate Miller was the catcher on the team and friendly to a fault. John Murphy was a smartass outfielder that always had something to say or an idea that would result in someone getting in trouble. The other boys on the team all got along with each other and hung out with each other during the season as well as during the off season.

Bellamy hadn't been able to secure his position as shortstop because of the accident, but was itching to get out on the field. The team hadn't started their off season training yet and Bellamy was hoping he'd make a full recovery before they did. He was already the new kid so he needed to prove himself and quickly. There was no way he was going to get stuck as not being a starter, or worse ending up having to play for the JV team. There were more guys trying out for baseball at this school. Kids were actually cut from the team and for once Bellamy would have to prove he was a valuable player. It made him anxious but more excited than anything because for once he had some competition.

He looked over at his sister; she had become more quiet than usual since their mom told them she was dying. Octavia hadn't been able to accept it until it had happened. Even though she was always fairly quiet to begin with Bellamy knew there was a rebellious kid in their somewhere. The girl was feisty growing up and somewhere through the years she lost that spark. He was worried she'd never find it again especially with how reserved she had become. She needed to find a friend that brought her out of her shell, but at the rate she was going it wasn't going to happen. Octavia kept too much to herself and the busy city was harder for her to get used to.

Marcus opened the door and walked into a normal site. Octavia diligently doing her homework at the coffee table while Bellamy watched TV. He had a study hall at school and for the most part got everything finished there.

"Hey," Bellamy said from his spot on the couch.

"How was school?" Marcus dropped his keys in a bowl on the table.

"Eh," the boy shrugged.

"Good," Octavia said without glancing up from her book.

"Eh and good. Sounds like you both had an uneventful day."

"New day, same stuff," Bellamy said.

"I was talking to Jake at work today and he mentioned he needed some help with something. He thought you'd like to help him."

"Me?" Bellamy raised his eyebrow and sat up on the couch. Marcus took the free spot next to him before continuing.

"His daughter is joining a softball team and Jake has been roped into coaching it."

"Abby making him?" Bellamy smirked. Knowing the doctor could get her way fairly easily.

"Exactly what is happening. Jake was saying he wanted someone to help him coach and thought maybe you'd like to. It won't go into your spring training by too much. And the team is for girls Octavia's age." Marcus looked over at Octavia.

"What do you think O? I could be your coach," Bellamy nudged her with his foot.

"I don't know how to play," she looked up at her brother.

"That's what practice is for," Marcus gave her a reassuring smile.

Bellamy had no desire to coach a bunch of preteen girls. It was honestly the last thing he wanted to do. He'd rather sit on the couch and mindlessly look through what was on cable. But he did know that if he coached the team Octavia would play and he had found friends through playing baseball, maybe she'd find some through softball.

"You wouldn't have practice everyday, O. So you can still come home and do boring homework right away," he teased.

"It's not boring. I like learning," she glared at him.

"Neither of you have to do it." Marcus looked between the kids, "So you don't have to say yes. It's just a suggestion."


The softball suggestion had sparked an interest in Octavia and she began asking her brother questions about baseball. She had spent her whole life watching him play and a part of her always wanted to learn how. When he had practice at the batting cages all she wanted to do was try to hit the ball too.

Part of Bellamy had hoped she didn't want to play. The games were on Saturdays and would cut into his weekends, not to mention he would be spending countless hours with a bunch of little girls. But here he was driving Marcus' truck to the park with an anxious Octavia in the back seat. She had a brand new pair of black cleats on her lap as well as a glove. Marcus had taken her shopping for them earlier in the week while Bellamy was at Miller's.

He pulled into a parking spot and got out. Octavia hopped out of the truck and grabbed her cleats and glove before following her brother out to the field. Bellamy had seen Jake Griffin a handful of times and recognized him standing behind the home plate with a couple of girls around him.

"Come on O," Bellamy led his sister to the field.

"Bellamy," Jake smiled at him when he saw the teenager coming over.

"Hey, Jake,"

"This must be Octavia," Jake looked down at her and she nodded, "Clarke, come here." A young blonde girl walked over and stood next to him. "Clarke this is Octavia and her brother Bellamy. She is going to be on your team and her brother is going to coach you guys."

"I thought you were coaching us," she raised her eyebrows at her father.

"I don't know anything about softball."

"You watch baseball all the time on TV and we go to games."

"Just because I like watching a sport and understand how the game works doesn't mean I can coach something." Jake shoved his daughter lightly.

"You know how to coach softball?" Clarke took a step toward Bellamy and looked up at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

Bellamy looked down at the little girl but before he could answer Octavia stood in front of him and said, "He's a short stop and plays baseball."

"But can he coach?" Clarke's eyes bore into Octavia's. Clarke had been told that her dad was going to be her coach and now someone was taking his position. She wasn't going to let a stranger come in and take over.

"Of course he can," Octavia put her hands on her hips.

"Clarke go introduce Octavia to the rest of the girls," Jake said.

"Okay," Clarke mumbled before taking Octavia over to the others.

"She isn't always that hard headed," Jake looked over at Bellamy.

"For some reason I don't think you're telling the truth. I've met your wife," Bellamy smirked.

"She's her mother's child. So I'm going to apologize in advance because my kid is probably going to try to take control of this team."

Bellamy and Jake spent the rest of the night trying to remember who all of the girls were and figuring out how much they knew about softball. For the most part it seemed like their team was all novices. They'd have to figure out where to put each of the girls and teach them the basics. Before leaving the field Jake suggested having the girls run the bases a few times.

Octavia sat next to Clarke and Raven as she laced up her cleats. Clarke slid her shoes on before standing up and looking over the field. Raven had stayed quiet most of the night but Octavia felt a sense of comfort around her. She still wasn't sure about Clarke, she didn't like the way Clarke watched Bellamy's every move. It was like she was trying to size him up. Octavia had never met someone who didn't trust her brother and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to react to it.

"Guys come over here," Jake waved at the girls, "Line up. One thing I do know about softball is that you have to touch the base in order to be safe. If you miss it, you risk the chance of getting an out. So we're gonna run the bases a few times and you need to make sure you touch every base. Got it?"

"Got it," a few of the girls responded in unison.

"Perfect. Raven you're going to start. Clarke when Raven touches the first base you're going to start running and so on and so forth."

Bellamy stood next to Jake as they watched the kids run from base to base. Some of the girls sprinted from each plate trying to catch up to the person who had started before them. Others lightly jogged from base to base focusing on touching each one. Octavia patiently waited for the girl in front of her to touch the first plate. The minute she did she took off, running as hard as she could. It didn't take long for her to pass up the girl who was ahead of her.

"She's quick," Jake acknowledged.

"She competitive," Bellamy smirked.

"Hopefully that rubs off on a few of the other ones out there."

"I'm just hoping they don't get killed their first game."


Murphy stood on the brick fence of the backyard trying to find the best spot to see the driveway. Bellamy continued to fill up water balloons with Miller, tossing tied ones into a bucket between them. It was taking him some time to get used to this weather it was fall and still in the high 70s. Miller had showed up with a couple bags of water balloons and Murphy had the bright idea to grab the oversized slingshot from his car. Miller and Bellamy both avoided asking Murphy why he had it in his car. The three found two trees in the yard the perfect distance from each other to set up the slingshot.

"You really think we'll be able to get them over the roof?" Miller looked at Murphy.

"Easily," Murphy gave him a smug look; "We could probably hit a car if we really tried."

"The last thing we need to do is hit a car. I don't feel like being grounded," Bellamy said.

"Then what are we aiming for?"

"My sister," Bellamy's lips pulled up into a shitty grin.

"Now we're talking," Murphy smirked.

Bellamy and Miller stood by the slingshot waiting for Murphy to tell them how far back to pull the strings. A bright red balloon sat in it waiting to soar over the roof. Murphy watched the road keeping a look out for Marcus' white truck.

"Get ready!" Murphy bounced on his toes while he stood on the fence, "He's pulling in the driveway."

"How far back?" Miller bit his bottom lip in anticipation.

"Three fourths of the way back and aim a bit to the right!"

Octavia grabbed her backpack and opened the passenger side door. She wanted to get inside and finish as much homework as possible before she went to practice. Her feet hit the driveway and she shut the door behind her. She took one step towards the house when something hit her in the chest.

"AH!" she screamed as water exploded all over her.

"What the?" Marcus spun around on his heel.

"Perfect contact!" Murphy yelled from the backyard.

"BELLAMY!" Octavia squealed and threw her bag onto the floor.

Before Marcus could say anything she was running towards the back gate. He followed her into the backyard. The boys were laying on the grass laughing. Murphy wiped his eyes as tears rolled down his cheeks. Miller's mouth stayed open, his eyes tightly shut but no noise came out except for him inhaling air between his laughs.

"Hurts," Bellamy held his sides as he tried to stop laughing, each breath he sucked in causing pain in his ribs. Octavia standing in front of him with her hands on her hips only made the situation funnier. Her shirt was soaked and she was shooting daggers out of her eyes at her brother and his friends.

Marcus surveyed his yard quickly noticing the slingshot set up and a bucket of water balloons. He covered his mouth to hide his chuckle, not wanting Octavia to see that he found the situation humorous as well. Marcus had never noticed how monotonous his life had become before the Blakes entered it. They kept him on his toes daily.

"Why?" Marcus gestured towards the boy's set up.

"It just happened," Miller snickered.

Octavia slowly walked over to the bucket of balloons as Marcus talked to the boys. She grabbed two balloons and looked over each one of them deciding who'd receive her wrath. Bellamy was definitely going to be hit by one but who else? Murphy had a way of getting under her skin, Miller usually didn't tease her, but Marcus had laughed once he realized what had happened. Using all her might she chucked a balloon at her brother and right after threw the other one at Marcus.

"O!" Bellamy yelled after the balloon hit him in the face. Before he could get her back he heard another balloon pop.

Marcus felt the water soak through his jeans instantly. He looked over at Octavia; her eyes were full of mischief as she bit her bottom lip to keep herself from smiling. "I'm giving you three seconds to start running," Marcus pointed at her.

"I'm giving you two!" Bellamy sat up. He grabbed a balloon and stared his sister down.

"No!" She laughed before making a move for the back door.

"One!" Bellamy yelled.

"Two!" Marcus grabbed her before she could turn the doorknob. Bellamy threw the balloon at her.

"Help me!" Octavia giggled.

"No one is gonna save you," her brother smirked as he grabbed another balloon. She squirmed as Marcus held her, her feet dangling off of the ground

"I'll save you," Miller grabbed the hose and pointed it at Bellamy before soaking him with water.

Murphy grabbed a few balloons throwing them Miller's way and receiving a face full of water. Marcus put Octavia back on the ground and she bee lined it for more balloons. Laughter filled the yard as balloons soared through the sky and Miller sprayed down everyone. Within a matter of minutes the balloons had all been used and no one was dry.

"Go change hon," Marcus ruffled Octavia's hair, "You've got to go to practice. You too," he pointed at Bellamy.

"Wanna go to practice?" Bellamy turned to his buddies.

"What're they practicing?" Murphy asked.

"Sliding. None of them know how and I've got a feeling that most are going to be afraid of getting hurt."


"Sliding is an important thing for you all to learn. It can help you get to a base without slowing down, you won't overrun the base and it can help you break up a double play," Bellamy talked to the girls sitting in the dugout.

"There's no reason to be afraid of it," Miller added, "You just want to make sure you do it the right way."

"Or you'll get hurt," Murphy chimed in.

"Thanks Murphy," Bellamy huffed.

Jake stood by as he watched the boys walk the girls through the correct form to slide. He paid extra attention to Clarke. It had taken her a couple of practices for her to be okay with Bellamy being in charge of the team, but now she was respecting him.

Murphy and Miller set up a large piece of cardboard on the grass while Bellamy explained how the girls were going to practice sliding on it. He assured the girls that it was okay to be nervous trying it out and that they should take it slow the first few times. Raven tried it first and did it almost perfectly, she followed directions to a t. Clarke refused to do anything at half speed the first time and went into the slide running as fast as she could. She stood up from the cardboard with a triumphant grin. Octavia did exactly as Clarke did. The two girls brought out the competitive side of each other, but it was becoming a friendly competition.

Once the team got the hang of sliding it was time for them to learn how to dive correctly. Miller and Murphy showed each of them how and walked them through the steps before letting them try it out on the cardboard. The girls seemed to get the hang of it quickly.

"You guys want to try it on the field?" Jake asked.

"We'll play pickle. Murphy is going to be on the first base and I'm going to be on the second. Miller is going to watch you to see if you're safe or not. Murphy and I are going to try to get you out. You'll start on first base and try to make it to second. You don't want either of us to tag you so if you got to go back to first do it. If you can make it to second, even better," Bellamy told the girls.

"And most likely you're going to have to slide to be safe," Miller noted.

Octavia was the first to try the drill. She sprinted towards second the minute Miller told her to go. Bellamy left the base to tag her so she turned on her heel to go back towards Murphy. When she heard the ball hit Murphy's glove she spun back to go towards second.

"Come on Octavia!" Raven yelled.

"Don't let them get you!" Clarke cheered.

Jake stood by the team and grinned like a fool. He didn't want to be in charge of a softball team but he was enjoying the time with his daughter. She was always taking after Abby with everything so it was fun to see her enjoy a sport. It was their time together every week.

"Slide into first!" Raven screamed when she noticed Bellamy still had the ball in his glove. Octavia tucked her one leg under herself and slid into the base. The girls hollered in excitement as Miller yelled, "Safe!"

"Who wants to try next?" Murphy looked over the kids.

"Me," Clarke ran to first base. She planted a foot on it and waited for Miller to give her the queue.

"Go," Miller said and she ran off of the base. Bellamy caught the ball from Murphy and took a step towards Clarke, which made her head back to Murphy. She stayed in the middle of the boys for a few minutes trying to find the best time to take second. There was never a good enough opening so she decided the next time she saw the ball leave Bellamy's hand she was going to dive for the base.

Bellamy threw the ball to Murphy and Clarke turned back towards him. She ran full speed in his direction, not paying attention to what Murphy was doing. Clarke dove for the base, her hands stretched out in front of her. Bellamy's feet got knocked out from under him and he fell back onto the dirt. His back hit the ground with a thud and the girls erupted into laugher.

"I'm sorry," Clarke jumped up, "Are you okay?" She ignored the laughing behind her and went to check on Bellamy's side. Her mom and dad had talked about how Bellamy was in an accident and had broken a few ribs. She instantly started to worry that she aggravated the already broken bones.

"I'm okay," Bellamy took in a sharp breath.

"Are you sure? I didn't mean to knock you over."

"I know," he grinned and sat up, "I'm fine Clarke."

"And that is how it's done," Murphy laughed.

Octavia walked over to the two and offered Clarke her hand. Clarke took it and pulled herself up from the ground. "If I knew we were allowed to take the baseman out I would've tried to get second big brother," Octavia smirked down at him.

"Sure," he pushed himself up from the ground.

Miller switched places with Bellamy for the rest of the girls to do the drill. As Bellamy watched he started to see that his team of girls who had never played before had potential. The girls were hard workers and always ready to practice and they didn't mind getting dirty.

After the girls finished the drill Jake called them all over to hand out their uniforms. He had told the admin that he didn't care what color his team wore. But when he was handed a box of khaki colored uniforms he started to regret the decision. There was no way a bunch of preteen girls were going to want the neutral color for their uniforms.

"We need to pick a team name," Jake said as he started handing out the shirts.

"Brown?" one of the girls moaned.

"It's better than pink," Murphy stated.

"Says you."

"Anyone have any suggestions for names?" Jake continued to hand out shirts. None of the girls answered and some shook their heads.

"Right now you look like a bunch of dirt bags. You're all covered from sliding," Bellamy said.

"Let's be the dirt bags!" Raven beamed.

"Dirtbags?" Jake said to himself, "It has a nice ring to it."

"Who likes the name Dirtbags?" Bellamy asked the team and almost all of their hands shot up, "Alright. Dirtbags it is."


Hope you guys are still with me.