Chapter 9

Bo tapped her pen on the notebook in front of her and sighed loudly as she watched the video in front of her. It had been a long day of classes and practice and the brunette was absolutely exhausted. She hit the button on the remote and paused the game film to jot down a few notes.

"Wow, wouldn't have thought I'd find you here so late."

Bo glanced up briefly but didn't say anything as Lauren walked into the film room and took a seat across from her at the small table. She looked at the notes and stat sheets spread out in front of the brunette and she was slightly impressed that Bo was so dedicated to studying the game. She looked at the screen and noticed it was film from some of their games in the Hawaii tournament and sighed as she sat back and watched as Bo replayed a few batters that got hits off of her.

"What are you doing here?"

Bo had paused the film and took a few more notes as she tried to sound casual knowing it came out slightly accusatory. No one but Nadia knew she studied film and after three years she kind of liked it that way. She sighed as she finished her notes and finally looked up at Lauren with an expectant gaze. This was kind of her private time and she didn't like being interrupted, even if it was by an attractive freshman who seemed to get under her skin like no one else could.

"Looking for you actually. I have something to tell you."
This piqued Bo's interest who sat up a bit and gave Lauren her full attention. Lauren pursed her lips slightly as she fiddled with the pen in her hand and tried to choose her words carefully. She'd been studying at the field, something she did from time to time as it was peaceful and quiet, when she'd noticed the lights on in the training room. When she saw Bo watching film she thought it would be a good time to tell the upperclassman what she'd been wanting to tell her for the past week every time she saw her.

"Well…um…"

Lauren paused as she tried to figure out exactly what to say. In her head she had this whole speech worked out in her head about how she was there to focus on school and she thought Bo was a great person but she wasn't interested in a romantic relationship. She had planned to tell Bo that she was flattered that the older girl was interested in her, or at least possibly interested, but they would only be friends.

Bo raised an eyebrow at Lauren's hesitation and looked at her curiously. "Hey, what's the matter?"

The blonde was slightly surprised by the concerned tone of Bo's voice and she shook her head trying to steel herself to be able to say what she came there to say. "Well, I wanted to tell you that…I think we're friends?"

Even as she said it Lauren knew she sounded ridiculous and Bo gave her a lopsided smile as she nodded slowly. "Okay, I mean yeah, I like to think so."

Lauren shook her head. "No, I mean…I just want to be friends…with you."

Bo's smile never faltered as she nodded again. "Oookay. That all?"

Lauren knew she probably just embarrassed herself but she wasn't sure how to gracefully exit the situation so she did what she always did when she panicked, she let her brain take over. She glanced up at the screen and nodded towards it slightly. "You should have gone after her, playing the outside was to her strength."

Bo sighed as she noticed the change in Lauren's attitude and she rolled her eyes slightly as she leaned back in her seat, glancing down at her notes briefly. "Her stats show a low ball hitter who struggles in the river. I thought it was the right decision."

Lauren smirked as she reached over and hit play on the remote to show the girl hitting a line drive out to the outfield. "And you were wrong."

Bo huffed slightly as she rolled her eyes again and looked over at Lauren with a frown. "Lucky hit."

Lauren shook her head. "She got a hit in the fourth inning as well. Face it, you were wrong."

Bo held her tongue as she sighed thinking to herself that this was exactly why she didn't like others watching video with her. She raised an eyebrow at the seemingly now cocky freshman. "Well I put trust in my catcher."

Lauren tilted her head slightly and laughed. "No you shook off my calls. Don't put that on me."

Bo laughed and nodded. "Fine. Maybe you were right."

Lauren nodded. "Thank you."

Bo shook her head and shut off the video. "Well how about we get some dinner and continue this debate about my player analysis."

Lauren's smile fell slightly as she stumbled a bit. "Uh…I really have to get some studying done."

Bo put her hand up. "Relax, I'm just talking about food and conversation. Nothing more. Besides, we have to do our dinner anyway."

Lauren sat up a bit straighter at that. "Yeah, about that. I asked Nadia about it and she had no idea what I was talking about."

Bo gulped slowly as she took in the way Lauren was looking at her. She knew she'd been caught but if it was one thing Bo did well it was handle herself under pressure. Sort of. "Well…I um…haha. Okay look, I just wanted to have some time with you, that's not bad right?"

Lauren tried to smile as she nodded. "Right, well like I said I really need to get some studying done."

Bo huffed. "And I said it was just a quick dinner. Come on, I'll drive."

She didn't really give Lauren any time to respond as she gathered her things and led the younger blonde out the door towards her car. Lauren looked at the old beat up Camaro with a small smile as the car seemed to really fit her personality and she climbed in carefully being sure not to sit too closely to the brunette who threw the car in drive and soon they were making their way down the busy streets of downtown Los Angeles. Lauren didn't really pay attention to where they were going as she found herself keeping her gaze on Bo out of the corner of her eye. She sighed to herself as she could feel how awkward things seemed and she tried to sit back and relax a little but she felt…nervous. And Lauren didn't know how to handle this type of nervous very well so she kept her mouth shut in effort to not further embarrass herself.

"We're here."

Lauren looked up and noticed they had in fact parked in a small lot next to an old school looking diner. A sign that read "Mel's" hung on the outside and Lauren could see a ton of younger people, most likely students, mulling around and she looked at Bo with a raised eyebrow. The bright gold USC letters were all around them and Lauren suddenly felt self-conscious in her UCLA hoodie.

"Bo?"

The brunette looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Lauren looked around slowly before looking back at the woman next to her. "Where are we exactly?"

Bo just laughed and got out of the car motioning for Lauren to do the same. Even though it was freezing the blonde slipped the hoodie off before getting out and looked around with worry. Bo laughed and shook her head. "It's fine Lewis. I used to date a guy that worked here and I got to know the staff. Most of the students know I'm the enemy but it's fine. Come on."

Lauren scooted closer to Bo as they made their way into the diner and once they were inside she looked around with a smile. The place was decorated in the traditional diner theme and it had a cozy and comfortable feel about it. Since it was later they were able to get a table right away and Lauren thankfully slid into the booth across from Bo who sat down like she owned the place. They ordered sodas and hamburgers and soon they found themselves looking at each other with not a whole lot to say.

"So…"

"So…you excited about the game tomorrow?"

It was their season home opener and would be the first time Lauren would get to play at their home stadium in a Bruin jersey. The younger Lewis sister smiled a genuine smile and nodded her head. "Very much so. I don't know how you're so calm about it."

Bo laughed and felt her own huge smile break out across her face when she took in Lauren's reaction. Bo tried to look nonchalant as she just shrugged. "You get used to it I guess."

Lauren just laughed and nodded. "Well I can't wait. Been working for this all my life."

Without thinking Bo reached across the table to put one hand on Lauren's arm. "And you're gonna be great."

Lauren stiffened a bit at the contact and pulled her arm back slightly causing Bo to retract her hand awkwardly. Lauren nodded. "Thanks."

Bo nodded and bit the inside of her cheek in slight frustration. She wasn't sure exactly what happened but it was odd for Lauren to be so guarded with her, at least form what she could tell, and she didn't like it. Their food came and thankfully the conversation lightened up allowing both ladies to resume their friendly banter that both had grown accustomed to over the past few months. Bo could see Lauren relaxing slightly and she was happy that the younger girl was comfortable with her.

The pair shared stories of their childhood with Bo asking a lot of questions about Tamsin and how their relationship had developed as they were growing up and Lauren asked Bo about being raised by her grandfather, something she found remarkable despite Bo's attempt to downplay the fact that she missed her parents. Bo recalled some funny stories that involved the team and their antics and Lauren laughed as she listened to the random things her current teammates had done throughout the years.

They hung around the diner a little while longer sharing a milkshake for dessert after Bo convinced Lauren they sold the best shakes around and the blonde had to admit the sweet treat was really, really good. As they shared the milkshake the conversation had died down and Lauren caught Bo looking at her shyly. Lauren gave her a small smile as she winced at the brain freeze and Bo laughed as she shook her head at the younger girl.

"Come on Lewis, let's get you home."

"Ughhh I'm gonna be so sick tomorrow."

Lauren groaned as they exited the diner and put her hand on her stomach as she slowly made her way towards the car. Bo laughed and followed her slowly laughing at how Lauren practically flopped down on the hood of her car in her uncomfortably full state. The blonde had rested her head on her arms and Bo took a second to look at her with a small smile on her face before climbing into the car.

Lauren grunted as she slowly stood up and got into the car next to Bo. The brunette laughed as she started the car up and navigated her way easily back towards Westwood and Lauren's apartment. The younger girl took this opportunity to really look at Bo and she sighed as she realized how much fun she really had tonight and she had to focus her thoughts on not thinking about Bo that way. As Bo drove through the streets though Lauren's gaze moved from Bo's profile in the shadows to her arms to her hands and Lauren knew she was losing the mental battle going on inside her head. She was quickly realizing that she felt something more than friendship for the brunette despite her declaration earlier about only wanting to be friends.

Perhaps it was the food coma or the fact that Bo had been nothing but genuinely nice to her tonight letting the blonde see her in a new light, but Lauren felt something she'd never felt before. Not just with regards to the older girl, but something she'd never felt, ever. Being a logical person and someone who believed in being able to figure out an explanation for everything Lauren just chalked it up to her being in admiration of Bo and wanting to get to know her on a personal level better. She still wasn't sure why she was getting the fuzzy feelings and her mind seemed to blank out the longer she looked at Bo but whatever it was she was certain would be gone by tomorrow. At least she hoped.

"Okay, here we are."

Bo smiled over at Lauren who just nodded as she slowly got out of the car. "Thanks for everything Bo."

The brunette nodded. "Any time. Goodnight Baby Lewis."

Lauren scrunched her face slightly as she nodded and turned to move away from the vehicle. Bo didn't see the expression on her face as she started up her car and slowly drove off leaving Lauren slightly deflated as she made her way up the walk towards her apartment. When she entered the apartment Tamsin was sitting at the little kitchen table they had with her books spread out and her laptop in front of her. She looked at her sister who looked slightly distressed and pushed her laptop to the side.

"What's up Laur?"

The younger sister just shook her head as she threw her bag on the couch as she walked past Tamsin without saying anything. The taller blonde stood up and followed Lauren into her room where she saw her sister changing into her pajama's and climbing into bed despite it only being ten o'clock on a Friday night.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Tamsin walked into the room and sat down next to Lauren on the bed. She looked concerned as she noticed the deflated attitude her sister had and the overprotective big sister feelings were starting to surface. "Where were you? Did something happen tonight?"

Lauren just sighed as she rolled on her side away from Tamsin not really wanting to talk about it. "It's fine Tamsin. I'm fine. Just tired."

The older Lewis looked at her sister's back and shook her head. "That's bullshit but fine, you don't want to talk we don't need to talk now but you will tell me if anything is wrong right? I'm not above kicking someone's ass you know."

Lauren rolled back over and looked at Tamsin who had retreated to her doorway as she'd been talking. "And what if that person was you?"

Tamsin's eyes bugged out both at her tone as well as what she said. She recognized the sharp tone in her sister's voice and the last time Lauren sounded like this was when she broke up with her high school girlfriend. Tamsin folded her arms across her chest and looked at Lauren with a calm gaze. "What are you talking about?"

Lauren sighed loudly as she stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know. But I'm tired of always being your little sister."

Tamsin tried not to laugh but she wasn't very successful as she shook her head. "Get over it Laur. No one cares."

Lauren sat up a bit and glared at Tamsin. "Yes they do."

Tamsin raised her eyebrow. "Who is 'they'"?

Lauren didn't say anything as she flopped back on the bed. "No one."

Tamsin's face softened as she sighed quietly. "Well if you ever want to talk about it I'm here okay?"

Lauren gave her sister a small smile as she rolled over and Tamsin gave her a lopsided smile before turning and heading back to her studies. She had no idea why Lauren was so annoyed but it was now her duty to find out what the problem was. She sighed loudly as she sat down at the table again to resume her studying and hoped she would be able to help her sister out, no matter what it took.

ooOOoo

"Hey Bo-Bo"

Kenzi greeted her best friend as Bo entered the apartment and threw her keys on the table. Bo smiled at her as she moved over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge before joining the petite woman on the couch. She laughed at the shitty horror movie Kenzi was watching and she snagged some popcorn from the bowl in front of her despite just having eaten a large meal.

"And where have you been young lady?"

Bo laughed. "Out."

Kenzi paused the movie before turning to her with a knowing smile. "With who?"

She nudged Bo who just laughed and rolled her eyes. "Lauren."

Kenzi rolled her eyes slightly but gave Bo a warm smile. "And how is the younger Lewis?"

Bo smiled. "She's good."

Kenzi nodded. "How good?"

Bo laughed and threw some popcorn at her. Kenzi blocked the snack and laughed. "Hey don't waste the snacks dude."

Bo shook her head with a smirk. "We're just friends Kenz. She made that clear tonight."

Kenzi looked at Bo skeptically. "So what's the plan here?"

Bo looked at her with surprise. "What do you mean?"

Kenzi shrugged. "I assume you like this girl so I'm assuming you have a plan."

Bo shook her head and laughed. "We're just friends."

Kenzi stood up and nodded at Bo. "For now, make sure you let me know when the next chapter of the Bo and Lauren saga starts so I stock up on popcorn and ice cream okay?"

Bo laughed at Kenzi's retreating form. "Don't you stock up on that anyways?"

Kenzi laughed over her shoulder. "Not the point!"

Bo shook her head as she heard Kenzi getting ready for bed and she sighed in the quiet room. She sat there thinking about her night with Lauren and she knew a smile was making its way across her face. She wasn't sure why she felt so giddy but she wasn't going to fight it. It had been too long since she'd felt that way and whether she realized it or not Lauren was a big reason for the brunette's happiness. For once Bo was going to just go with the feelings and let whatever happens…finally happen.