Lynn throws the racquetball above her head as she begins to think out loud, "I get it, I get it, but still." She isn't exactly in too much of a rush to tell anyone about her relationship, but she's the impatient type. After five minutes, she gets not being able to tell anyone. After five days, it's still a bit too soon. After five weeks, maybe tell one person. After five months of being together, well, Lynn wasn't too sure, but she sure as hell didn't expect to just sit around waiting or lying to people.

No one has asked, but her sisters, especially Lucy, are becoming aware of some subtle differences. They would ask her all sorts of questions like why she seemed to smile more, why her breakfast wasn't a tooth-rotting mess, or why she was on time for their weekly Saturday meetings; geez, you'd think that they would appreciate those little changes.

She wants to tell them, just to get them off of her back, but she could already hear them. They'd squeal in delight and then they'd pester her about details, followed by them criticizing her dating life. At least if she stayed quiet, she wouldn't have to worry about her sisters and what they would say.

Lynn continues to bounce the ball on the ceiling. Their whole relationship is more like their friendship when they were kids; watching sports, going to the gym, and some time at the pool or lake – that's it! She isn't a hopeless romantic like her sisters, but she never imagined that this was what relationships were like, especially after seeing her older sisters.

He made a point when he told her back in February; he wants to ease Elena into it. Lynn understands, but months seems like a long enough time to let her know, at least that's what she thinks. At the very least it would be nice to just be able to get it out in the open, granted not in front of those nosy gossipy parents, but to no longer keep it just between the two of them.

"Lucy? She's nice and quiet, even if she tells someone, not everyone will notice. No, she'll probably use it as fuel for her romance novels. Last thing I want is to be made into a werewolf and he becomes my forbidden human lover. Lisa? She isn't a gossip, but…" Lynn shudders at the thought of the blunt questions Lisa would probably ask. "Well, definitely not Lily."

Lynn maintains a rhythm as the ball rebounds from the ceiling, before she pulled out her phone. She wants to tell someone, just to get this out in the open, one person to make it easy, but she isn't sure who to tell. There were her friends that ran Romano's, but she knew a certain someone was going to lecture her as soon as she mentioned anything, not to mention that they would probably blurt it out at every opportunity, and there's no way that she or Francisco wanted that.

"Margo? She should be easy to tell, but when was the last time I talked to her?" It has been too long since the two friends talked; Lynn couldn't even remember what they conversed about either. "Paula? No, I don't even know where she is," Lynn slouched down on the couch.

This could have been easier to tell if her sisters weren't such gossiping meddlers or if Francisco wasn't such a worrywart.

In her best imitation of Francisco, "Do we really need to tell anyone? Let's just keep it between us. I haven't told Elena that we're both dating, and I want to be the one to tell her," in her normal voice she reasoned, "It's not like she doesn't know that you have a life outside of work and home. I get it. It's weird, but aren't you going to tell her at some point?"

Lynn played out the rest of the conversation in her mind; it always ending with Francisco promising to tell her that he was going to tell his daughter.

"Soon, I promise," she said in her imitation.


The sun's rays beat down on the rowing team as they continued their practice around the lake. For the last couple of hours, Lynn has been pushing her team to be ready to take on Hazeltucky in an upcoming race, but all that practicing was beginning to take its toll on the team; their arms were aching, their stomachs were rumbling, and their heads were pounding, especially after hearing the coxswain's voice.

"And stroke…stroke…stroke…stroke," Lynn yelled to her team.

"Lynn! We've already circled the lake, so many times. Can we take a break?" said rower in front of Lynn.

The rest of the teammates mutters in agreement; they are hot, tired, and hungry, but the girl at the end of the boat refuses to let the team call it a break.

"What's the big whoop? It's not like everyone's complaining," remarks the coxswain.

The rowers all turn to Francisco, who has been quiet while the rest of the team complain to Lynn. He is tired; his reddening cheeks and aching muscles make that clear, but he knows that stopping would only make Lynn whine at how unmotivated her team is being.

"Your boyfriend doesn't count, Loud!" exclaims the rower.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"I'm not her boyfriend!"

The team isn't convinced and paddle to shore for a break. When they reach land, the team gets out of the boat and walks to the rest area; leaving Lynn alone with Francisco.

"Fine! Be that way!" Lynn yells to the rest of her team, while she tries to pull the boat out of the water. She turns to Francisco, "Can you believe them?"

Francisco helps her pull the boat out of the water, and responds, "Actually, I can. It's hot, the sun is beating down on us, and you insist that none of take bathroom breaks, even after all these laps."

"It's not that bad," Lynn scoffs while ignoring her own sunburned face.

"Right…" he says as he pokes her cheek.

She swats his hand away and bites down on her lip to keep herself from reacting to the stinging on her cheek.


Lynn pulls into the parking lot of the baseball field, and takes a deep breath. Spring is finally here, flowers are blooming, birds are chirping and baseball season is starting again. Soon, others will begin to arrive, but right now she just wants to take it all in. It isn't often that she got the diamond to herself and this is the opportunity to enjoy it the way she used to.

She walks towards the mound, and grabs a ball and mitt out of her duffel bag. "Starting pitcher, Lynn Loud Jr. takes the mound. This is her first time as the starter and here comes the batter. Here's the wind-up and the pitch – strike one! Textbook! Can you believe the hidden talent found in this school here in southern Michigan?"

"No, I cannot," she says in a different impersonation. "How the heck did no one see her before?"

In her regular voice, "Wow…I haven't done that in a long time." She can't recall the last time that she played around with those fake scenarios, but it was rather amusing to bring it up again.

"Loud faces the next batter. She does her signature good luck rituals, and strike two! Unbelievable! She didn't even have time to react!"

"Looks like someone hasn't been studying game footage; hit the books, rookie!"

"Third batter is up to plate. Phew, can you feel that heat, folks? The sun is beating down on that field."

The second announcer quietly whispers in the microphone, "You can hear those hearts pounding, folks. Everyone has their eyes on the batter that the visiting team swooped from New York. Can Loud keep the opposing side down? Here's the wind-up."

Lynn closes her eyes tightly; she bites down on her bottom lip, her breathing is becoming erratic. She opens her eyes; she feels dizzy and everything looks blurry; without any concern; she throws the ball as hard as she can into a random direction. She shakes her head, and stares down at the mound until the sound of broken glass distracts her.

"Dang it," she says to herself as she looks towards the direction of the sound.

Lynn walks to the parking lot, "Stupid scenario…stupid imagination…stupid everything! Now I have to write a ding dang note and pay for some idiot's broken–" She runs up her car and sees the shattered glass on her back seat, "Not again!"


Francisco sat on the dock's edge, most of the team was waiting for their rides to come pick them up, but he decided to have some time alone by the water. The sounds of the frogs, the changing colors of the sky, and the feeling of water as he wade his bare feet through the lake put his mind at ease. He took a deep breath, and was interrupted by the sounds of chewing behind him. He turned around as Lynn walked towards him.

She sat down next to him, "What are you doing here all by yourself?" she asked between bites of her sandwich.

He shook his head, "Not much. Just taking it all in," he said as he looked out at the water.

Lynn followed his head, but was getting bored. She rarely stops long enough to appreciate her surroundings; she's a girl of action, she can't just sit still like the boy next to her. The near silence of nature

"This is so boring!" she whined.

"Well you're free to go and find something more your speed," he said without even looking at her.

She stayed put, and rapidly tapped her foot on the water. How could he do this? Just sitting here? Sure, when you watch television you do the same, but nature didn't have flashing colors or loud noises or dumb people making fools of themselves for money. She looked over at him, and wondered what, if anything, was going through his mind.

Lynn looked out at the water and stared at the sunset. She listened to the sounds the water splashing against the shoreline and crickets chirping away, while keeping her eyes focused on some of the dragonflies nearby.

She began to rapidly tap her feet from nervous energy; she couldn't stand sitting around like this, she needed to move around.

"Is this it?" she asked. "This is what you plan on doing until someone comes to pick you up? Why don't you jog around the lake, or try to capture a frog, or race me to see who can catch our folks along the road?" she asked before getting up, readying herself for that last suggestion.

He didn't bother to move from his position; he was content just letting the calming sights and sounds take his cares away.

She took her seat next to him, "Seriously? Nothing?"

He shook his head, "Nope. I'm fine right here."

Lynn groaned, but she didn't leave his side, no matter how much complained or how much her body ached to do something else.

When her phone buzzed, she looked at it, "My mom's here. I guess I'll see you later."

He turned to her, "See you tomorrow."


Francisco sat in the stands and looked down on the field. Since last season, he's made a habit of sitting alone in the stands; not because he was antisocial, he just knows that others will try to start a conversation and then he wouldn't be able to pay attention to field.

A man took a seat near Francisco, and turned to him, "You ain't allergic are ya?" he asked as he pulled out a sealed bag of peanuts.

Francisco shook his head, and continued to watch the kids on the field.

"Boy, they sure look like they're havin' fun," the man remarked as he chewed on his snack.

Francisco nodded, but stayed silent. This is what wanted to avoid; socializing with the other parents. He knew that this man didn't mean any harm, but these small conversations start into something and Francisco just wants to watch practice in peace.

"The name's Roy, by the way," he said as he introduced himself.

"Francisco."

The two men sat quietly, looking at the field. There was a few minutes of silence before Roy asked, "So how do you know the assistant coach so well?"

"Excuse me?" he asked the man, taken aback by the sudden question.

"Last season I saw you chattin' up with her after practice, and then you made that hit against her, without her mentionin' anythin' so I figured that maybe you both knew each other."

Francisco tried to say something, but he wasn't sure what to say.

"I mean, she keeps lookin' over at you when she gets a chance."

Francisco's heart raced a bit. Was it really that obvious? He looked over at Lynn, who was looking at right at him. His mind wandered a bit; the kids were closer, they could probably notice the dazed look on her face, then one of them would look to see where she was staring, and say something out loud. He shook his head, his imagination was getting ahead of him, chances are that those kids probably aren't even paying attention to Lynn, let alone where she's staring at.

"You know when some of the parents were gossipin' about you two, I thought that they was just messin' around, but she really is starin' at ya."

As directly as possible, he responded, "She's not."

"Ya sure 'bout that? She seemed awfully friendly with ya last season, what with you two talkin' after practice and all."

Francisco looked over at some of the other parents in the stands, most were on their phones, but some were talking to each other. "The parents gossip about stuff like that?"

Roy nodded his head, "Yup. I'm guessin' that they get bored and they start with whatever they can get, kinda like high school but a bit more desperate."

Francisco tapped his fingers rapidly on his lap. 'People know, or at least they gossip. Still, that's not good. One loose-lipped idiot talks in front of the kids and that's it, secret's out. No more hiding, and I'll have to come clean, whether I like it or not.'

"So it ain't true?"

"No, she only wanted to talk since I played ball as a kid."


The next day, the rowing team met again for practice. As the team took a break, after a more 'relaxed' day of practice, Lynn took a seat on the dock and tried to figure out how people could sit still while looking out at the water.

Like the day before, she couldn't sit still, she has so much energy to spare that she almost wondered if she could use the boat while everyone was taking a break.

"No one'll notice or care I guess," she told herself before hearing footsteps.

"Tired, Lynn?" asked Francisco, as he took a seat next to her.

Lynn snorted, "Yeah, right." She turned towards the makeshift camp that the team set up. "I know that we've got a few good laps left in us."

"It must be so hard. You want to keep going, but everyone is too tired from the rowing."

"Exactly!" she interrupted. "You get it!" she happily exclaimed, while missing Francisco's sarcasm.

"I mean why should they rest? What's a few laps? Who cares that the sun is beating down on everyone?" Lynn nodded until she figured out where he was going, "After all, the coxswain is the one doing the hardest job - yelling 'stroke' over and over again," he joked.

"Hey!" she said, before punching him the arm, "That's not my only job. I also have to steer, maintain the rhythm, keep everyone safe, make the decisions, I'm responsible for our training regimen, be the coach when–"

"I get it, Lynn," he interrupted.

She crossed her arms in a huff. She worked hard, and she didn't like the idea of her teammates just reducing her role to nothing more than just the person who keeps yelling 'stroke' while the rest of team has their oars in the water.

"Don't be that way," he said, hoping that she would calm down. "You're a passionate sports girl. You have to know that everyone isn't like that."

Lynn muttered something under her breath that Francisco couldn't hear.

"Well it's not our fault that everyone isn't as crazy about sports as you," he guessed.

Lynn stared out at the lake, and ignored him.

He sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, but you have to remember that as much as we like competing or being out on the water, we also need to breaks and time to just hang out. I mean, what's the point of competing if we start turning on each other?"

She rolled her eyes, "Fine! I won't push the team so much, just don't complain when we lose against Hazeltucky."

He turned towards his teammates; they initially sent him over to talk some sense into Lynn, but after seeing them whisper while pointing out to them, he wonders about what they really had in mind.


Francisco looked at the screen as he finished off his pop, and asked Lynn, "Did you know that the parents gossip about us?"

"Yeah, why?" she asked before handing him another bottle.

"You knew!? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think that it was that big of a deal. So they gossip like a bunch of teenagers, who cares?" Lynn remarked as she stared at the television screen. She turned over to the man, "Don't be upset, besides it's not like people haven't thought this before. Remember high school?"

Francisco groaned, "Don't remind me. Any time we hung out, it was the same thing."

Both started, "Are you two dating? You should, you'd make a really cute couple. Sometimes friends can become more than just friends, you know," they laughed after their imitation.

He sighed, he doesn't like thinking too much about high school.

Lynn looked over and saw that his eyes darkened a bit, she placed her hand on his back, "Are you okay?"

He looked at his watch, and pulled out his amber bottle to take a pain pill. "I'm fine."

"You know my offer still stands, if you want to talk," she reminded him.

Ever since Francisco's injury, Lynn offered to let him talk to her about what was on his mind, but he rarely took the opportunity to do so. Normally, she would pester him over and over again to get him to talk, but he learned to be firm to get her off of his back. There was nothing that he had to talk about, and there was nothing that he wanted to share with her at the moment.

Francisco turned to her, "Lynn, there's nothing to say. It's the same injury, and it's no big deal."

"Fine, but don't say that I don't offer," she huffed. Lately, she noticed that any time high school got brought up, he would get this solemn look on his face and stay quiet. It drove her nuts, but she knew that he wasn't going to open up, and forcing him to talk was just going to drive him further into silence.

He looked at his watch again, "I should get going. I've got to get up early for work tomorrow."

"Now? But the game isn't over. C'mon, I think you can watch a few more minutes."

He looked at the screen and then at her, and shook his head, "I can't. I'll watch the highlights online tomorrow."

It was happening again. Their time spent together cut short by his work, "You know, you could probably call in sick, get a day off, sleep in, we can get breakfast," she started rambling about how they could spend his hypothetical day off.

"Lynn, Lynn!" he tried to get her attention before giving her a brief kiss to get her back on track, "I'll see you later."

"Wait! Before you go," she stopped him, "Have you talked to Elena , you know, about us?"

He wasn't sure what brought that question on, but he was sure that she wasn't going to like that after so much time he hasn't even mentioned the idea to the girl, "Yeah, I've told her that I'm seeing someone."

"Did she ask who?" she nervously asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, but I haven't told her yet. I said that I'll let her know before I introduce you…you know, as my girlfriend."

He didn't want to lie, but he didn't feel like ending tonight with an argument or hearing Lynn ask questions about why he still hasn't brought up the relationship, besides he knows that she can hold off for a few more weeks.


After practice, Francisco hung out by the dock again.

"Jeez, you look and act like some old man staring out at the sunset," Lynn remarked from behind.

The boy shrugged his shoulder. He likes the tranquility, even though he was sure that the girl behind him did not. He never bothered to ask much about her family or what it's like to grow up with such a large number of siblings, but assumptions could easily be made.

She sat down next to him, and kicked her feet in the water; she needed to do something rather than sit in silence.

"You know you're scaring the fish, right?"

Lynn groaned, "You sound like Lana. Don't scare the fish, Lynn. There are probably delicate fish eggs underwater. I get it! Nature! Good!"

Francisco stopped to think about who Lana was, but didn't bother trying for too long. No matter how hard he tried, he could never attach a sisters' name with a face or talent; probably didn't help that he's only seen them in the stands for minutes at a time.

"Have you even gone camping, Lynn?" he asked out of the blue.

She turned to him, wondering why he brought that up, "Umm yeah, it stinks. The bears, the hard ground, the mosquitoes, why?"

He shook his head, "Just wondering…"

Silence again.

"So have you gone? Camping that is," she asked.

Francisco shook his head again, "Nope, but I've wanted to. It seems like it would be nice – the fresh air, the campfire, the stars shining down on you, the sound of nature all around, it just seems nice and fun."

"You know what fun is?" she joked.

He scowled at her. "Yes, I know how to have fun. I'm only serious, because one of us has to be the level-headed one."

"What does that mean?" she asked, before standing up to look down on him.

He got up and looked her straight in the eye, "You know what that means." He had little mischievous glint in his eyes that she missed, "But to be fair, I can have a fun side too."

Those were the last words he said before he walked away.

Lynn rolled her eyes as he walked away from her; she turned around and faced the water and heard footsteps before she was pushed into the lake.

"Was that fun enough for you?"


Elena looked over at Lynn from the dugout, while her teammates were enjoying their snack; she gazed at what had the assistant coach's attention. She quietly walked out of the dugout, and saw her father. Last season, she remembered seeing the two of them talk, but it was never privately or for more than a few minutes.

Lynn walked towards Francisco, and the two started chatting. Elena saw the two adults; she saw her smiling a bit, saw dad in his usual direct body language. For a few minutes, it was just them talking; the girl just kept an eye on the two until she realized that there was no point in monitoring them. She turned to go back into the dugout with her team, when she noticed some adults whispering with each other and pointing at the pair.

The girl bit down on her lower lip; she wanted to know what they were talking about and why they were pointing at the two. Curiosity got the best of the girl and she made an attempt to get closer to the stands.

"Elena, where are you going? Coach is calling us," said one of the players.

"I was going to ask my dad if he had any pointers for me after watching me," she lied.

She casually walked towards the stands and tried to listen in on the conversations that the adults were having.

"See! I told you that she's interested in him," one woman said to another.

"At least you can tell with her, you can't tell if he's interested," responded the other woman.

"Then again, does he ever talk with anyone? He just sits there quietly like some creep."

"We'll he talks with Lynn, and he's talking to Roy again."

Elena looked at her dad; the women were right, it was difficult to tell if he was interested, especially with her demeanor, "Maybe he wasn't lying after all," she sadly said to herself.

She saw her dad sit back down and Lynn walk back onto the field with a smile on her face, 'Poor Coach Lynn.'


Lynn emerged from the water and looked at the boy, who had a smile on his face. "Seriously? That's how you show me that you can be fun?"

He nodded his head a little, "A bit more unexpected, I guess."

"I guess," she says in a mocking tone. She scowled at him, "Well do you plan on just standing there or are you going to help me outta the water?"

He leaned down, and extended his arm out, and before he could react, Lynn pulled him into the lake. He emerges from the water; annoyed at the smug look on her face.

"Ha!" she yells with a satisfied smile. "Guess I can be fun too."

Francisco splashes her, which Lynn happily returns to him.

The two swam towards the shore and as they got closer to land, the two would occasionally splash each other or kick water towards the other. Before they got out of the water, Lynn began to laugh.

"What's wrong with you?"

Between her laughs, she was finally able to say, "It's just nice to you act like a kid who can actually enjoy himself."

He turned to her, "I can enjoy myself."

"Yeah, if you weren't always such an old man," she said as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "All I've seen you do is just train and then go and sit on the dock. Never once, have I seen you run around having fun like everyone else."

"Do you actually want me to be like everyone else?" As she thought about it, he pressed his head closer to her's. "By the way, I'm hoping you hit a growth spurt soon, because this is a bit uncomfortable." He laughed.

"Well no one's telling you put your head side-by-side with mine," she jokingly complained, as she pushed him to the side.

Lynn walked ahead of him. She was glad that her face was a bit sunburned at the moment, because she didn't feel like hearing his questions.

Francisco caught up to her, "So you never answered my question."

She pretended that she didn't hear him, and walked ahead of him with a smile on her face.

He followed behind her, "If you don't say anything I guess I'll have to stay the same as I've always been,"

The smile on her face grew a bit; she could live with that.


For the rest of practice, Elena couldn't concentrate; she kept thinking about what those women were saying. She wondered how long it had gone on for, and if it was just those two or everyone that bothered to pay attention to her dad and Lynn. She never heard parents talk about them before, but she assumed that they only did it amongst themselves and not with their kids.

"Look alive, Elena!" yelled Lynn.

The girl was snapped out of her thoughts and saw a ball headed her way. She moved out of the way, and the ball flew past her.

She could see her dad groan in the stands. She knew that he wasn't going to say a thing, but his silence was definitely going to say everything. She wanted to quit baseball so badly, but for now, it was the main thing that lets her see him besides the weekend.

"Sorry, the sun was in my eyes," she apologized to her teammates.

Now where was she? Oh right, dad and coach Lynn. Elena wished that her dad wasn't so adamant about being alone; she wanted him to be happy or at least try. Her mom would mention that he had an infectious smile, gentle eyes, and a calming air when they were dating; she just wished that she could have seen it. Instead, most of her memories were of a stern man who would probably struggle with a simple grin.

Elena looked at Lynn, she was going to ask her if she was interested in her dad, or at least see what, if any, intentions she had with her dad.

All she had to do now was wait for the two of them to be alone.

When practice came to a close, the girl took a deep breath and tried to approach the assistant coach alone in the dugout before the woman had an opportunity to walk towards her dad.

"Coach Lynn, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, what is it?" she asked.

Elena stayed seated, but she couldn't say anything with her teammates around. Lynn noticed the girl's nervousness and took a seat next to her as they waited for the other children to leave the dugout.

"So what's bothering you?"

The girl looked at the assistant coach, "It's my dad. I've noticed that you seem to talk to him a whole lot." Lynn couldn't argue with that; it's true, they always talk. Elena continued, "And I don't think that he's interested in you, like you are."

Lynn nervously got up from her seat and turned around to face the girl, "What are you talking about? I'm not interested in your dad."

Hearing those words come out of her mouth bothered her. It wasn't just the lying, but having to pretend with everyone around them, and why? Because Francisco hasn't told his daughter about their relationship, because she decides to go along with his shenanigans, or because they just act like friends.

What has even changed since they were teenagers? They were older and had responsibilities, but overall it was the same. The two hang out, watch a game, go to the gym, and get a bite to eat – exactly what they used to do over twelve years ago. There isn't romance. She isn't like some teenager who didn't know what to expect in a relationship, she knows what to expect, and honestly, she isn't sure if either one of them is feeling more than just an occasional spark.

"I know, it's just…" she struggled to find the right words. "He's told me that he has no interest in dating and I didn't want you to try and get hurt when I knew that he wasn't going to say yes."

Lynn kneeled down and looked at the girl, "Don't worry about me. Besides, it's just nice to have someone to talk to who also likes baseball."

There she goes lying again. Yes, when they're at practice they keep their relationship more professional, so she was telling the truth, but that isn't the only reason that they talk.

"Besides," Lynn continued, "Adults can change their minds."

There. She took a step closer to telling Elena the truth about the relationship, even though she shouldn't. She should let Francisco handle it, but it's just a tiny step, it shouldn't cause too much damage.

"I guess, but he seemed pretty sure about not wanting a girlfriend when I asked a few weeks ago."

Lynn nodded her head, "Well I should probably get going." She got up and began walking towards the parking lot, "See you next week for practice."

"Wait! Don't you normally talk with my dad afterwards?"

Lynn shrugged her shoulder, "I need to go get my car window fixed, I've been putting it off, besides what's one day off?"