Grace walked towards the bleachers, her backpack weighing on her shoulders, from the weight of her history and Biology books.

As she walked through the gates that lead to the hockey field, she looked up to examine the other girls sitting on the bleachers- watching their boyfriends train for the big game next week.

Grace's heart sank as she saw they were all blonde headed, skimpy top, and pink frosted lipstick-wearing cheerleaders.

One of them turned her head, to see who the new arrival to the clan was- and Grace quickly looked down at her watch, it was 4:00, she figured the training would end at around 5 o'clock..…Approximately….. or so she prayed!

She couldn't sit with these girls for longer than an hour; that was for sure!

Slowly, Grace walked along the footpath, and started walking the stairs- she could hear the conversation die down to a whisper, and noticed a few girls shooting her sideways glances as she approached, but still, they plastered on a white toothy grin.

GRACE I don't even understand the whole watch you're boyfriend sweat thing………..am I supposed to take an interest in everything he does……..and watch him train and play in every single match………?

"Hey" One of the girls out stretched a manicured hand as Grace stood before them.

"I'm Naomi" the girl gave a twinkling smile-, which Grace guessed, was completely forced.

"Grace" she replied, taking the girls hand lightly- she didn't want to break her nail or anything.

The other girls around Naomi gave similar smiles, and began introducing themselves.

"Courtney……..Melissa……..Sally………Amanda……….Jessica………Hayley……….Laura" Grace nodded at every single bleached haired one of them, instantly forgetting their names the moment they announced them.

"My boyfriend is James" Naomi pointed him out to Grace as she sat down; he was tall, with golden curled hair……..and at that moment……..made a dramatic fall to the ground after loosing his footing.

The other girls seemed all too keen to show off their boyfriends to Grace aswell;…….."Michael………Shane………Josh……….Alec………Scott……Pete………" Grace forgot their names just as quickly…..

"Which ones yours?" Naomi asked.

Grace squinted for a moment, feeling slightly embarrassed when she couldn't spot his face as instantly as the others- all the boys were running so quickly, their hair flapping against their face………finally she recognised his tanned skin, and raven hair- "Ayden" Grace said, pointing.

None of the other girls bothered to look; they already knew who he was.

"Ayden?" one of them repeated, and shot the girl next to her a 'fancy that' sort of look.

"Yep" Grace answered, quietly; not sure how their secret 'jock's girlfriend' code worked.

Naomi gently elbowed Grace, and flashed a softer- less sparkly white teeth- smile, "he's nice," she said softly.

"Oh yeah……..a real cutie!" One of the other girls chimed in.

"So thoughtful" another encouraged.

"Totally awesome!" Somebody exclaimed.

Grace nodded in agreement, "Yeah- he's all those things and more" she said quietly.

GRACE so this is how it works……….association by boyfriend?

"Well……welcome Grace!" Naomi finally said, once the compliments about Ayden had died down.

"Err……thanks" Grace smiled, making sure every one of the girls could see it.

There was silence for a moment……..and then conversation picked up, where it left off.

"So anyway, I asked her and she totally lied through her teeth!" One of the girls exclaimed, all the others gasped- and the conversation became more heated.

Grace turned around so she could face the speaker……Hayley, she thought, though she was only guessing…….."And I was like, 'don't be giving me that holier than now crap Tiffany!'………"


Once the boys had finished, and began walking off towards the edge of the field- all the girls stirred, walking down to greet them with long, passionate kisses.

Grace and Ayden stood off to the side, trying to ignore the lip-locking going on around them.

"So……..you played well" Grace complimented, trying to ignore Courtney's slight moan as Josh groped her.

Ayden half smiled, "thanks", he said, taking another sip of his Gatorade bottle.

Grace smiled faintly- as she examined his hair, and the small tendrils curling at his brow, from sweat.

His robust lips were parted as they sucked in quick breaths- and his face shined from sweat, as did his strong, muscular arms.

Grace quivered slightly.

"Thanks for watching me" Ayden finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"I really enjoyed it" Grace said, perhaps a little too quickly.

Ayden smiled, "You don't have to come to every single one of my matches you know………"

Grace let out a small sigh, but it didn't go unnoticed, and Ayden let out a small breath of laughter.

"Sorry" Grace felt the blood rush to her cheeks.

"Don't be………hockey is boring as hell to watch" Ayden lied, only to make her feel comfortable.

Grace's smile grew, and she suddenly wanted to lean forward and taste his salty, robust lips- to caress them with her tongue……..to run her hands through his damp hair.

"Actually, I wanted you to wait behind so I could show you something" Ayden twisted the cap on his Gatorade bottle, ignoring Grace's curious glance; he walked towards the gate and grabbed his sports bag.

"See you tomorrow" he called to his teammates; and Grace gave a small wave to the bunch of girls, as she and Ayden watched them walk away, leaving them alone- sitting on the bleachers.

"So, what do you want to show me?" Grace asked, gripping his hand a little tighter.

Ayden smiled, returning the squeeze- "hmm…………well before I show you, you have to promise me something!" he shot her a quick smile.

Grace nodded slowly, trying to suppress the nervous giggles rising in her throat- "Anything" she replied simply.

"You can't laugh at me," Ayden said, trying his best to cover his own laughter with a serious tone.

Grace nodded again, and gripped his hand even tighter………

"So what is it?" She asked, after a moment without words.

"You have to wait" Ayden replied, almost in a whisper.

"Why?" Grace asked, keeping her voice hushed aswell.

Ayden turned to her curiously, "why are you whispering?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Grace stared into his deep black eyes for a moment, then a smile spread across her face, and she hit him playfully- "cause you were whispering!" she said, giggling.

"Oh" Ayden smiled, admiring the way Grace's head tilted back when her laugh heightened- he traced her laugh lines with his eyes, and when her giggling suppressed, he brushed a hand across her cheek.

She silenced herself immediately, his intense eyes making her keep focus- and she concentrated on the touch of his strong hand as he ran a finger across her lips, and then cupped her head with one hand- and slowly leaned in.

Their kiss was soft and mellow to begin- he knew the exact moment to intensify it- as though reading Grace's thoughts as she yearned for him.

His lips pressed hers harder, and they both seemed to melt into one another.

Finally they pulled away, Ayden brushing Grace's cheek one more time- craving to feel the softness again.

Grace smiled, and as he pulled away, she tentatively ran her fingers lightly through his now dry hair- smiling as the small curls twirled between her fingers.

"Look" Ayden whispered so lightly, Grace almost didn't hear him- but followed his gaze none the less as he turned and looked out across the hockey field.

"Oh" Grace breathed, finding her throat choke up as she took in the scene.

The sun was setting- and through the elm trees that lined the green grass of the hockey field- only small trinkets of light broke though the jigsaw leaves and winding braches, scattering across the field like stars across the sky.

The sun's colours melted together- the orange, red, purple, pink and a tinge of blue- it all fused into one as it met in the middle, and Grace looked on in wonder- not noticing that Ayden had turned away from the wondrous sight, and stared at her instead.

"It's Beautiful," she whispered, after the longest time.

"Definitely" Ayden replied, ignoring the image Grace was so engulfed in- and instead, stared at her soft features.

Grace heard the distance in his voice, and turned to him, smiling when she realized he wasn't talking about the sunset- "your beautiful" he whispered, incase Grace didn't understand.

"So are you" she replied, and leaned in for another……..perfect kiss…….that only ended when the sun completely disappeared behind the Elm trees.


AUTHORS NOTE

Let me just say, I am sorry if you have a boyfriend who is a 'jock', or if you have bleached hair……..or wear small tops……..or frosted lipstick.

I meant no insult by it, honestly!

Oh and………the Ayden/Grace moment…….. I know I know! COMPLETE FLUFF! Almost makes you sick, doesn't it?

Well I'm sorry, it was an idea I just had to create!