Shane kept to his word and explained to Lucie when she was meant to cheer. On the whole it was fairly obvious, but sometimes people seemed very excited by someone doing what looked like nothing.
She found it very hard to see where the ball was. Everyone was just running around all the time, moving constantly and doing nothing. Lucie tried to be enthusiastic, but, if she was honest, the thing she was watching was Shane. He was so interested in everything, and muttered to her a constant commentary without every removing his eyes from the game. She watched the way his eyes darted across the field, head still, but eyes fiercely intent. He leant forwards, elbows on his knees and hands moving from mouth to neck, to air, to Lucie's arm, begging her to look at the game in front of her.
At half time, Lucie was ambushed by Alex. He'd been sat behind them by pure coincidence, and to the surprise of Lucie when he lurched between her and Shane's heads. Later, she would claim that she merely yelped in surprise. 'Yelped in surprise' was as accurate as claiming the Royal Yacht was a dingy.
Alex roared with laughter, loving her brief terror, then, dialled it down to a grin.
"This is your first grid ball game ever, so you're doing it properly," he insisted. "So, nachos or pulled pork sandwich? Those are your only options, because everything else is shit."
Lucie looked at Shane questioning, and he shrugged.
"Half time food is part of the experience, he's right," Shane said. "Nachos are an awful lot easier to eat."
Lucie grinned.
"Nachos it is then," she said to Alex. "Do you want me to come with?"
Alex patted her on the head.
"Nah, lil farming girl, I can carry nachos by myself," he smirked. "Hey, Shane - you want anything?"
Lucie held in the surprise at Alex being civil to Shane. Shane covered his surprise less well. He stumbled over his words at first, then Alex cut across him and answered for him.
"I'll just get a large nachos and you can share. And I'm insisting you both have beer, cause, you know, beer."
Sharing nachos shouldn't have felt like a big deal, but by Yoba, it felt more intimate than it ought to have done. Shane's fingers grazed against Lucie's more times that he could count, and each time he could have sworn he got a static shock. Her hand was so small under the absurdly large box, and half the time he went to scrape some salsa and nearly tipped the whole box on to the floor.
They were gone too soon.
Shit, he didn't eat all of them, did he? No. No, he definitely hadn't because he could remember the way she tentatively nibbled at the crisps like some kind of critter. It had been adorable, and he'd let her eat far more of the nachos as a result.
Lucie had awkwardly moved over to a bin to get rid of the cardboard structure, and Shane had shamelessly watched her walk over, staring at her legs and butt. It was an excellent butt.
She'd moved quickly, obviously trying not to block people's view for too long, and so Shane had to turn back to the game much sooner than he wanted. By Yoba, if she'd caught him looking at her butt, Shane thought he'd probably die.
But, she didn't notice him looking, and the game was getting interesting again. Or at least that's what he told himself in order to focus on something that wasn't just how attractive the woman next to him was.
He glanced sideways to see her looking fascinated at the pitch. Maybe she'd actually started to get to grips with what was happening. Damn, that'd mean he'd have less of an excuse to talk to her, to lean closer towards her, pressing his leg up against hers as she leant closer herself to hear over the roar of the crowds.
"Hey - don't we win the game if we get this next goal?" She asked him, in a low tone, but not so low that she wasn't audible. Shane hadn't been paying attention, but now, looking up at the scoreboard, he saw she was right. They just needed one more goal and they'd win - for the first time all season. Fuck, that was a minor miracle in itself.
"Yeah. Yeah, we will -" He cut off as the kid who'd been outshining every else all season seemed to gear up to toss the ball.
The whole stadium erupted. The sheer wall of noise seemed to ripple through Lucie as the ball passed over the line. She felt herself thrown to her feet - she must have stood, but it felt more like a force was pulling her upright than her deciding to stand. She felt the cheer whistle out her mouth.
And she felt Shane beside her. He turned towards her and beamed, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her feet up off the floor. She whirled around in his arms, her feet flinging around like a little kid's, and for the first time she was glad they were at the front of their section. Glad they had the small walkway in front of them so that they could move, they could hug.
Then he pulled away from her, and turned red. He walked away from her, walked to the end of the row and then faltered.
"I'm - I'm sorry. I got carried away there," he paused and looked back at Lucie. "Maybe have had one too many."
Lucie moved towards him, closing the gap. She looked up at him, paused and then said,
"You've only had the one beer. And I like you, dumbass, you don't need to apologise for hugging me."
Prime opportunity to kiss him… and she passed it up.
Fucking dumbass.
She cursed herself the whole way back to the bus. Then on the bus. Then as they got off the bus.
Everyone else left, slowly. Painfully slowly. But Shane stayed, and stood next to Lucie, occasionally looking like he was going to speak but then snapping his mouth shut again.
"I'm sorry-" they began in unison. And stopped in unison. Lucie gestured for him to speak as he frowned.
"What are you apologising for?" He asked.
Oh. Fuck. Oh, fuck she was going to have to say the truth, wasn't she? Anything else would be such an obvious lie, and now she was burning.
She laughed, a little awkwardly, and rubbed the back of her neck.
"I'm sorry for acting weird on the bus," she said. Shane tried to interrupt but she held up a hand. "Please? I wasn't being weird for the reason you think. I've…" she trailed off and swore lightly under her breath. "Fuck."
"I mean, if you insist."
Lucie's eyes widened, she felt the flush creep from her chest up her neck. She laughed once more. Shane seemed almost as surprised as her that he'd said that. He rubbed the back of his neck once more.
"Sorry. And sorry about the hug-thing." He looked away, glancing towards the grass path back into the town. "And sorry for this too."
Then he kissed her.
And she melted.
His fingers tangled into her hair, tilting her head up towards his and cradling it in his palm. Her hair was so soft, feathery light against the back of his hand. He was lost in the sensation of her hair, her lips, her hands, lost in her kiss, lost in her.
Her fingers dug into his back, pulling him ever closer towards her. Her hips pushed up towards him and his mouth parted in a surprised gasp. Lucie felt the loss of his lips against hers like someone had taken her air. Her eyes didn't quite want to open. Not yet. Maybe if they stayed closed he'd kiss her again.
"I should go home," Shane whispered, pressing another kiss against her forehead. "Marnie'll worry."
Lucie let out a small whine. The noise wasn't supposed to come out of her, but it did, and Shane kissed her once more.
"You should go," Lucie echoed.
"I should."
Neither of them moved.
