Eddie carefully picked her way through the thick crowd of parents around the edge of the field.
"Oops! Sorry," she mumbled to a mother whose foot she stepped on.
Finally, she came to a relatively open patch of grass. Eddie crossed her legs and sunk to the ground, ignoring the way the wet grass soaked through her jeans.
Feeling only slightly awkward, Eddie pulled off her sweatshirt and tried to get comfortable. She had been to a few of Jack's soccer games before, but never alone. She felt bad for Jack, especially since it was the game that would get his team into the playoffs.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and when she looked at the screen, Eddie saw the text from Linda.
-thanks for going to Jack's game. tell him we're sorry we're missing it.-
Eddie tapped out a quick response and started scanning the field, looking for the oldest Reagan boy. She caught sight of him relatively quickly and grinned widely.
"WhooHoo!" she cheered, "Go Jack!"
She wasn't exactly loud enough o be heard, not over the other shrieking moms, but Eddie continued to yell at the top of her lungs.
She snapped a few pictures and even caught video footage of Jack's amazing save.
"Hey, Eddie," Jack called, jogging over and gratefully accepting the water bottle she handed him, "Where's everyone else?"
Eddie frowned, "I'm sorry, Jack. I was the only one available. They're all really sorry they couldn't make it."
Jack shrugged, "That's okay. I guess work is important."
He still looked a little dejected. Eddie's heart sunk. Even though work was inescapable, she knew the Reagans felt bad for missing Jack's final soccer game before the playoffs.
She stood up, brushing dirt from her pants, "Can I possibly bribe you into a better mood with ice cream?"
Jack smiled, "Yeah! I think that'll help."
"I thought so," Eddie grinned and grabbed Jack's duffel bag. Swinging it onto her shoulder, she and Jack fell into step and talked easily.
"You know, I was never good at sports," Eddie said on a laugh.
"Really? I thought cops had to be athletic?" Jack tilted his head, "At least my dad is always saying how much he has to run after bad guys."
"Yeah, I mean I can run," Eddie shrugged, "But I'd much rather chase them in the car."
"You're pretty good at cheering," Jack said later, as they walked around the park, ice cream cones in hand.
Eddie nudged him with her hip, "Eh, it's easy when I'm rooting for a superstar!"
Jack shook his head and looked at his sneakers, "I'm not that good."
"Yeah you are!" Eddie exclaimed, "your mom mentioned something about tryouts for the school team. You should go out for it."
"They're really good on the team," Jack said, "I'm not that good."
Eddie could see that the teenager was conflicted, so she bumped his shoulder.
"Eh, doesn't matter. I'll come to any game and cheer you on!"
Jack grinned, "Thanks, Eddie. I'm glad you're here."
"Anytime, Jack," Eddie smiled, "It's nice having a family that cheers each other on."
She refused to think about her own fractured family, instead choosing to focus on licking away a stray drip of strawberry ice cream.
Jack frowned as he took in Eddie's sad expression, but didn't say anything.
They walked in comfortable silence for a few more blocks, before coming across a small park.
"Hey!" Eddie got a mischievous look in her eye, "Wanna play a little one on one?"
"You're on," Jack said, dropping his bag to the ground and pulling out the soccer ball.
Eddie chased after Jack as he kicked the soccer ball around.
They played for an hour or two, laughing and trash-talking as they went.
A/N: I knew I wanted Eddie to go to Jack's soccer game as their bonding since we saw Jack playing a game with all of the family watching. I know this one's a little short, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
Just Sean and Jamie left and then this story is moving to the "complete" pile :)
Drop me a review and let me know what you think!