#I’ve had that Claire Brewster on my mind lately | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

eightmakar · 6 years ago

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Rule Breaker | Five | S.M.

A Baseball!Shawn AU

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: blood at the end, cursing

Author’s Note: enjoy ;))))) tag list is open! thanks to @heavenly---holland for the moodboard and @the-claire-bitch-project for being my beta!

“Hi, is this Tessa Hale?” the voice over the phone asked.

“Yes, this is,” she replied, sitting up on the couch. Shawn, who was laying in her lap, looked at her in confusion.

“Hello Ms. Hale, my name is Grace Hilton. I’m a hiring manager with the Toronto Bluejays. I’m calling about the application for the athletic training internship you submitted on MLB.com.”

“Oh! Hello, Ms. Hilton, yes, I’m so glad to hear from you!” Tessa’s hands began to shake. Shawn still looked confused.

“You as well! Like I said, we saw your application to the MLB. We would love to interview you for our internship here. Your application was flawless; we’re very excited that you know baseball injuries already through your work with the Brewster Whitecaps,” Ms. Hilton explained.

Tessa couldn’t believe it. She’d submitted that application on a whim, hoping to maybe get some constructive feedback. She never thought she’d get a call back about it.

“Thank you very much!” Tessa exclaimed. “I’d love to, um, interview with you guys! What would be the best way to do an interview?”

“Well, Ms. Hale, we would love for you to come up to Toronto to do the interview in person, but we understand if your schedule with the Whitecaps won’t allow that.”

“Um, I think I can find a time to come up to Toronto,” she said. “Do you have a specific date in mind?”

Shawn’s eyes went wide. Toronto? He mouthed. She nodded.

Coach Hale and Cora came hurrying into the room. “Toronto?” Cora whispered. Tessa nodded again.

“We’d love to have you come up the week of July 8th if possible. We can put you up in a hotel, provide transportation, and we’ll make sure your meals are taken care of. You just have to get yourself up here.”

“I can, um, I can definitely do that!” Tessa said. She couldn’t believe this was happening. “I’ll need to make a few arrangements, so where can I reach you once I’ve made my travel plans?”

“You can call me back at this number, or you can shoot me an email at [email protected]. I’ll be the coordinator of your trip, so if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask, alright?” Ms. Hilton sounded excited.

“Yes ma’am!” Tessa nearly shouted. She was so excited she could barely stand it.

“Alright, Ms. Hale, I look forward to hearing from you then!”

“Thank you so much for this opportunity, Ms. Hilton!”

“Of course, honey. You take care. Bye-bye.”

“Goodbye!”

Tessa hung up the phone and squealed in excitement. She jumped off the couch, Shawn hot on her heels.

“Toronto?” Shawn asked excitedly.

“Remember that application I sent in for the general MLB athletic training internship? That was the Bluejays. They want to interview me to be their training intern!”

Simultaneously, Cora squealed, Shawn gasped, and Coach Hale hooted.

“Tess!” Shawn breathed, hugging her.

Cora and Coach Hale wrapped Shawn and Tessa up in a mass group hug. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

“This is incredible, Tessa!” Coach Hale cheered.

“An MLB team!” Cora squeaked. “A trainer for the Toronto Bluejays!”

“Tess, you’ll be so close!” Shawn breathed.

“If I get the job,” Tessa added.

“When do they want you?” Coach Hale asked.

“Well, she said the week of July 8th would be best, and I told her I could get to Toronto that week sometime,” Tessa explained.

“I’ll go with you,” Shawn said immediately. “That’s my home, Tessa, I can show you around and make sure you get where you need to be safely.”

Coach Hale and Cora looked at each other, then Shawn. “That’s cool with us,” Coach Hale said.

“What?” Tessa asked.

“Yeah, we have to run the Whitecaps, Tess,” Cora added. “So you guys should go together! Shawn can show you around!”

“You’re . . . okay with it?” Tessa asked incredulously.

“Course we are!” Coach said. “We trust you, Tess.”

Shawn gave her a look. “Are we going to Toronto?”

Tessa looked at her parents, then at Shawn. “It looks like we’re going to Toronto!” The Hales hugged Tessa tightly again, Shawn stuck in the middle.

“Okay, okay! Let me go so I can get my ticket!” Tessa groaned. She battled her way out of her parents’ grasp and went upstairs to get her laptop so she could book a plane ticket.

She heard the door close behind her and she knew Shawn had raced upstairs after her.

“Tess,” he whispered. He walked over to her and lightly stroked her cheekbone. “A trainer for the Bluejays. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

She smiled up at him. “If I get the job, I’ll be close to you until the season’s done, hopefully.”

He gazed at her, lightly drawing circles and hearts on Tessa’s cheeks. She felt fire on her cheeks left in the wake of Shawn’s touch. He stared into her eyes softly. “You can stay with me if you need to,” he whispered. “I have an apartment, so it can just be you and me.”

“Shawn . . .”

“Tessa,” he murmured. “I can show it to you when you go for your interview. You, oh my god, you can meet my parents!”

“Oh god,” Tessa moaned, burying her hands in her face and sitting down on the edge of her bed.

Shawn was immediately concerned. “Hey, hey, hey,” he said, kneeling on the floor in front of her bed. “What is it?”

“I’m just, um, like,” Tessa paused to take a breath, “I’m very overwhelmed.”

Shawn lovingly put his hand on her knee and rubbed it. “Okay, what about?”

“I don’t want to think about moving in together yet,” she admitted in a whisper. “I like you so much, Shawn, but it’s really too soon for me to think about that.”

“Oh, honey,” Shawn murmured. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to overwhelm you, Tess.”

“I know you didn’t,” she said, tears coming to her eyes. “I have such strong feelings for you, Shawn, I just need to make sure that we don’t convince ourselves I’ll be in Toronto with you until I get the job.” She put her hands down on her legs and Shawn moved his hand to top hers.

“It’s okay, honey,” Shawn mumbled, gently stroking his thumb across the back of Tessa’s hand. “I got excited and ahead of myself. I’m sorry I overwhelmed you. How about we just focus on plane tickets first?”

Tessa nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Yeah?” Shawn stood up. “I’ll grab your laptop, honey.”

Tessa nodded again, then scooted back on her bed until her back was against the headboard. Shawn grabbed her laptop from her desk, then handed it to her and sat down next to her on the bed. She opened her laptop and Shawn laid his head on Tessa’s shoulder.

She searched “Flights to Toronto” on Google and began to find the lowest priced flight.

“Do we need to get a ride from the airport?” Shawn asked. “When we get to Toronto?”

“I don’t think so,” Tessa said distractedly, starting at her screen. “The lady on the phone said the Jays would take care of the ride and a hotel and everything.”

“Sweet,” Shawn said. He kissed her should sweetly.

She quickly found a ticket and booked it, wincing a little at the price. It would be ultimately worth it, she knew, but damn it hurt to spend that much money. She leaned her head on Shawn’s head, which was still on her shoulder.

“Well, you better get on that ticket, Bubs,” Tessa muttered.

“Can I borrow your laptop?” he muttered back.

“Mmhmm,” Tessa said. She picked up her computer and placed it on Shawn’s lap. He straightened up to book his flight, the same flight she was on. He even paid extra money to book the seat next to hers so they could be together.

Tessa wrapped her arms around his arm and squished her cheek into his tricep. She kissed the hem of his t-shirt as he closed her laptop, leaned over, put it on the floor, then scooted to lay down on her bed.

Shawn put his arm around Tessa and pulled her into his body. She laid her head on his pectoral muscle, curling up into his warm body and trying to calm herself down a little bit more.

“I’m really sorry I overwhelmed you,” he whispered. “I feel really bad about it.”

“Quit apologizing,” Tessa mumbled back. Her eyes burned a little and felt heavy, so she closed them. Shawn’s body was so comfortable, so warm, and she felt like she could fall asleep on him. “It’s okay. You didn’t do it on purpose.” Shawn pulled her even closer into his body and she felt the tug of sleep on her.

“Do you believe in love at first sight, Tessa?” he whispered after a few moments of sleepy silence.

“Depends,” Tessa murmured sleepily into him. “Maybe.” Her breathing slowed, and she quickly fell into the haze of almost being asleep, so she wasn’t sure if she dreamed what Shawn said next or if he actually said it.

“Think ‘m falling in love with you, Tessa,” he whispered so softly she almost didn’t hear him, which also contributed to her confusion over the reality of his words. “Think I have been since we met.”

“Alright, alright, everyone on the bus!” Coach Hale called.

The Whitecaps were on their way to play the Chatham Anglers. They had a bus to take the guys back and forth.

“Sit with me?” Shawn asked Tessa.

“If you sit towards the front,” she said. “I sit with the coaches. We talk while we’re on the way.”

“Sure thing, Sunshine,” he said with a smile. “I’ll wait for you.”

“Thanks,” she smiled.

“Hey, Tessa!” Benjamin called, running up from his car. “Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s all good!” she said. “You made it just in time.”

“Thank god,” he breathed. “Hey, you know Claire will be here Wednesday, right?”

“Oh dang, that went by fast!” Tessa exclaimed. That also meant that in exactly one week, on Monday, July 8th, she and Shawn would be on a plane to Toronto for her interview and visit with the Jays.

“Yep, it sure did!” Benjamin beamed. “I miss her so much. I can’t wait to see her.”

“I can’t wait to meet her!” Tessa said.

“Berry, c’mon, on the bus,” Coach Hale added into the conversation.

“Yes sir,” Benjamin said, then hurried onto the bus.

“Berry got a girl visiting, huh?” Coach Hale asked, bumping Tessa with his crossed arms.

“Apparently,” Tessa agreed. “Name’s Claire. He’s real excited, in case you couldn’t tell.”

Coach chuckled. “I could tell. Who are we missing?”

Tessa looked down at her clipboard roster. “Hmm,” she said, looking at the checkmarks next to all the boys’ names. “Looks like just Kyle.”

Coach Hale rolled his eyes. “Alright, gimme his number and you go ahead and load up.”

The other coaches nodded, then loaded the bus. Tessa quickly gave her dad Kyle’s number, then scurried onto the bus to join Shawn.

He smiled as she climbed on the bus. “Hi,” he said as she sat down.

She sighed. “Hi, Bubs. Kyle’s late, so Dad’s chewing his ass out on the phone right now.”

“Yikes,” Shawn said. “Do you have a replacement in mind for him?”

“I mean, I’ll have to rearrange the lineup if he’s not part of it. Basically, Tommy Evans will be play short, but I’d move him to the eight spot, so everyone else would move up a spot, which just screws everything up. He better get his sorry ass here.”

As if on cue, Kyle came sprinting onto the bus. The guys all sarcastically cheered for him as he made his way to the back.

“Yeah yeah,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Tessa smirked to herself, secretly glad he’d been late and gotten chewed out, but also secretly glad she didn’t have to rearrange the lineup.

“Tess,” Shawn said. “Who’s today’s pitcher for Chatham?”

Tessa pulled out her notes. “Um, let’s see, it looks like it’ll either be Keaton Jones from Mississippi State or Julian Gray from South Carolina. Either way, it’s a righty pitcher from the SEC.”

“The SEC?” Shawn asked.

“Oh shit, right,” Tessa laughed. “The Southeastern Conference. It’s a really elite sports conference in the US. Like, the University of Alabama is a football powerhouse, and other schools in the conference like Florida and Louisiana State and Vanderbilt are all really talented baseball programs. They always have a ton of teams in the NCAA tournament and send a ton of guys to the pros.”

“Oh,” Shawn simply said.

Tessa laughed and put her head on his shoulder. “So, the point is they have a lot of experience pitching to talented batters with metal bats. They have good control, especially these two guys. Jones is in line to be Mississippi State’s ace, and Gray is South Carolina’s freshman pride and joy that stepped up after injuries. Jones has a really good curveball, and Gray’s fastball is consistently around 95.”

Shawn whistled. “Impressive.”

“Definitely,” Tessa agreed. “So just watch out for them.”

“I will,” he smiled, putting his head on top of hers.

Shawn slipped an AirPod into his ear that wasn’t pressed against Tessa’s head. Tessa looked through her notes on some of the players for Chatham; she’d seen a lot of them play before, and she made sure she took careful notes on every player she saw, especially the pitchers.

She found her notes on Keaton from the previous season. He’d played for Hyannis last season as a long reliever. He tended to stay horizontally in the strike zone, but he frequently left the ball up in the zone.

Julian, however, hadn’t played summer ball last year, so she quickly looked up his statistics from South Carolina’s season. She wrote down a few notes on him, gnawing on her lip while she tried to imagine how he would throw and how he would do against her boys. She figured Benjamin would struggle against him, so she wrote down a quick note on her roster to give Benjamin a quick warning if he was the pitcher.

Shawn nudged her softly with his elbow. She sat up, looked at him, and saw him offering her his other AirPod. She took it and put it in her ear, then looked down and saw him play the music.

She heard the familiar beginnings of Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” come through the earbud.

Ooh, you make me live

Whatever this world can give to me

It's you you're all I see

Ooh, you make me live now honey

Ooh, you make me live

Oh, you're the best friend that I ever had

I've been with you such a long time

You're my sunshine and I want you to know

That my feelings are true

I really love you

Oh, you're my best friend

He nudged her again and pointed at her as Freddie Mercury sang “You’re my sunshine.” Tessa’s face grew hot as she realized he was playing this for her, that he was telling her how much he cared about her. She felt tears prickling in her eyes, so she buried her face in his arm, then squeezed his forearm tightly to fight them away. Afterall, there was no crying in baseball.

The short bus ride ended a few minutes later. Tessa rubbed her eyes and took out Shawn’s earbud, handing it back to him. He smiled without saying anything, then tucked both his AirPods into the carrying case.

The team unloaded the bus and entered Chatham’s stadium. Tessa went straight to home plate, even before she dropped her supply backpack off, and just stared out onto the diamond.

The outfield grass was perfectly cut; it was a Monday, afterall, so it had been freshly cut that morning before the game. The criss-crossing design the lawn mower, Chris Manuel, had created was extremely satisfying. Chris cut all the grass in the Cape, so Tessa and her family had known him for years.

She kicked the little bit of dirt off of home plate with her cleats, staring down at it and sighing. She felt at home on the diamond.

“Whatcha thinking, Coach?” Coach Hale came up behind Tessa.

“Not much,” she admitted. “Just enjoying the diamond.”

“Chris did good on that outfield today!” Tessa’s dad said.

“Oh yeah,” she agreed. She crossed her arms and scrunched her face.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Nothin’,” Tessa replied. “Just getting focused.”

Coach Hale patted her on the back. “You’ve got it, Tess.”

She smiled as her dad walked away. She took one more deep breath, then joined her team in the dugout.

Keaton was the starter for Hyannis, so Tessa was excited. He was extremely talented, so he should be a good match for her guys.

Shawn floated over next to her as Keaton warmed up on the mound. “Hi,” he muttered.

“Hi, Bubs,” she said, putting her head on his arm.

“Any notes about the pitcher?” he asked, looking over his arm at her.

“Um,” she started, “you’ll be able to tell within the first inning if he’s on or off. He’s super emotional and takes everything personally, so if he thinks he’s not doing well, then he’ll start going downhill. But if he’s on, he’s on, and he’s really good. Remember your pitch to look for?”

“Fastball up in the zone,” he said immediately. “How could I not?”

“He leaves fastballs up a lot,” Tessa told him. “So you should get your pitch today.”

“I hope so.”

“You will, okay? Trust me, I know him.” Tessa picked her head off of his arm. “You got this, Bubs.”

He smiled at her, leaned down, and placed a kiss on top of her hat. “Thanks, Sunshine.”

The first inning ended quickly; it appeared that Keaton was on today, which worried Tessa a little bit. She noticed the home plate ump had a pretty wide strike zone, and a lot of the pitches she would’ve called as balls he called as strikes. She hoped that when Shawn, who was next in the order, was up to bat Keaton would leave just one pitch up for him.

Tessa gnawed on her lip as Shawn stepped up to the plate. He did his little ritual, breathed, and stared down at Keaton. He waited patiently, taking four pitches immediately to bring his count to 3-1.

“C’mon,” she whispered. “Leave it up.”

She watched Keaton pitch from the stretch and the catcher jump to his feet. She knew Shawn’s pitch was coming, and she desperately wanted to scream at Shawn that he’d been given his pitch.

She didn't need to, though. Shawn knew.

He swung through the ball, clobbering it straight to centerfield. Tessa’s eyes widened as she watched the path of the ball, as she watched the arc over the field. She knew it was going out immediately.

“YES!” she squealed, jumping up and down.

“Get out!” someone called.

“MENDEEEEEEEEES!” someone else called.

The ball landed probably fifteen yards behind the outfield fence in straight center field. Shawn touched first with a fisted hand raised, cheering at his teammates. They all sprinted out of the dugout, jumping over the dugout fence and running for home.

Shawn touched second and grinned as he saw his teammates waiting for him. His grin widened as he saw Tessa with the biggest smile, a smile so big her cheeks hurt. She was so proud of him it hurt.

The home run was the only run scored for Brewster the whole game. In fact, it was the only run scored the whole game, and the Whitecaps topped the Anglers 1-0.

On the bus ride back to Brewster, Tessa could barely keep her hands off Shawn. She held onto his bicep and his hand and kept placing kisses whenever she thought she could sneak one. She’d never been a fan of public displays of affection, especially not in front of her guys. She tried to be casual but she wanted to let Shawn know how proud of him she was.

The ride was pretty quick. The Whitecaps all unloaded, making sure that the bus was “Spick and span” as Coach Hale shouted. Tessa smiled as she watched the guys get off the bus with their empty bottles. She stood next to her dad and the other coaches, making small talk and waiting for Shawn.

Kyle dismounted the bus before Shawn did, and he waited a few feet away from Tessa. She didn’t really think anything about it; he was probably waiting for Ethan Hayes from LSU or Theo Robinson from Georgia, who were his two closest buddies on the team.

Shawn got off the bus and looked straight at Tessa, smiling brightly. He walked towards her, but Kyle stopped him.

“Hey, Mendes,” he said casually.

“Hey, Young,” Shawn replied, his attention still on Tessa.

Tessa clenched her jaw, recognizing the tone Kyle was using on him. It was his shmoozing voice.

“Nice run out there,” Kyle said.

“Thanks, man,” he said.

The coaches began to walk away to drop some things off on their way. Kyle kept talking to Shawn, who looked horribly bored by him. Shawn looked at her and stuck his tongue out.

“Mendes?” Kyle called. “The fuck, bro?”

“Young, c’mon man,” Shawn said. “I’m just messing around with her, alright?”

Kyle got really close to Shawn, staring up at him. It was almost comical how much shorter Kyle was than Shawn. “I don’t know what kind of shit you’re tryna pull with Tessa,” he hissed, barely audible to Tessa from her position, “but she’s mine, got it? I’ve been trying to get her for over a year, and you waltz in here and sweep her off her feet?”

Shawn chuckled. “You’re fucked up, Young.”

“Yeah? How’s that?”

“Think she owes you something. She doesn’t owe you shit, man, and she doesn’t belong to anyone. She’s her own person. She’s not ‘mine,’ and she’s sure as hell not yours.”

With Shawn’s final word, Kyle laughed, then reared back and punched Shawn straight in the nose. They both yelped in pain and Tessa sprinted over to the two of them.

“Hey!” she yelled as she shoved Kyle.

He smirked at her. “Look who decided to come fight for herself,” he drawled.

“Fuck you, Kyle,” Tessa snarled. “Fuck you! Who gave you the right to be such a goddamn asshole?”

“I’m not an asshole,” he replied. “I’m charming.”

“Like hell you are,” Tessa said through gritted teeth. She threw her arm back before swinging it forward in a fist to punch Kyle in the cheekbone.

“What the fuck, bitch?” he cried, holding his cheek and doubling over in pain.

Tessa picked her knee up and it collided with Kyle’s stomach. He collapsed to the ground, curling into the fetal position.

The coaches were running back over to Tessa, Shawn, and Kyle. Tessa leaned down to Kyle’s ear before she stalked off.

“Who’s the bitch now?” she whispered. She stood back up and immediately went to care for Shawn.

“That was amazing,” he muttered as Tessa escorted him over to her backpack. The coaches were tending to Kyle. “I’ve never been so attracted to anyone in my life.”

Tessa smiled to herself. “Let’s get some ice on that nose, Bubs.”

She made Shawn sit down on the cement. She pulled an ice pack out of her backpack, snapped it, and began to shake it so it would start to cool down. She pulled a few tampons out, too, along with some gauze.

“Theresa Corrine,” Coach Hale’s booming voice said. She pursed her lips and kept her attention on Shawn.

Her dad squatted down next to her. “What’d he say?” he whispered. “I’m not mad, I have to pretend I am.”

“He said he was charming, not an asshole. He called me a bitch. He tried to tell Shawn he owned me. I’m tired of him and I want him gone,” Tessa said sternly. She patted some blood away from Shawn’s nostril.

“He’s gone,” Coach said. “He started that with Shawn and we saw it. He’s gone, don’t worry. Christopher’s handling it. He’s gone, Tess.”

Tessa didn’t realize how badly her hand hurt until that moment. She checked it out, feeling around her bones the way she’d been taught. She didn’t feel anything broken, which was good, but she got another ice pack out, cracked it, and started to shake it.

“Thank god,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Coach Hale stood up. “Good form,” he said, then left to go deal with Kyle.

Shawn grinned at her, the blood seeping from his nose running into his mouth.

“Oh, God,” Tessa gasped, grabbing more gauze and dabbing at it. “Head forward, c’mon.”

“Do you think it’s broken?” Shawn asked, his nose clogged and swollen.

“Um,” Tessa squinted at him, moving the gauze from his nose gently palpating it. There were no bruises forming next to his nose, near the bridge, which was a good sign. “Nope, it’s not.”

“It hurts,” he said with a small laugh.

“I know, but now you look tough,” Tessa teased, cleaning more blood from his face.

“I didn’t look tough before?”

“Nope, but now you do. Your face is a little less annoyingly perfect.” Tessa leaned forward and kissed Shawn’s forehead. “Ice, Bubs.” She replaced the gauze with the ice pack he was holding, then got up and walked over to the huddle of coaches around Kyle.

Kyle looked pissed. She heard Coach Christopher saying something about Kyle’s coach at Ole Miss hearing about it, and she had to fight off a grin. She tried to look serious as she looked at Kyle, who was holding an ice pack to his cheekbone. He glared at her, then stalked off.

Coach Hale came back to them as Tessa pulled Shawn’s ice pack away for a quick moment to shove tampons in his nose to stop the bleeding. Shawn made a strange noise and jumped, not expecting to have the clumps of gauze shoved into his nostrils.

“It’s done,” he said softly. “We need to get him to the hospital?”

Tessa gazed at Shawn. “Nah, his nose isn’t broken, so he’ll be okay. We should take him home, though.”

Coach Hale patted Shawn on the shoulder. “We’ll take you to ours. Don’t want to have Mrs. Miller breathing down your neck, do we?”

Shawn laughed. “She will want explicit details of what happened to my nose.”

“And details as to why you punched her favorite boy,” Tessa said, rolling her eyes. “She’s an Ole Miss grad and she adores Kyle.”

Shawn grinned wickedly. “Shame he’s not here for her anymore, isn’t it?”

finally, kyle’s gone! what do yall think so far? What are you looking forward to seeing in the future?

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