lost writer's block
I think I've finally done it. I've tried and tried the past year to sit down and write some Jate fanfics, but alas, nothing to show for hours destroying my eyes to the blaring glow of a "New Document". But it is not simply a case of Writer's Block. It's more that every time I try to write Jate, I can't. My brain really wants to get rid of this "little" plot bunny that might actually be a novel idea that I've had festering in some dark corner of my fic faction. So I'm going to listen to it for once and decided that tonight, with the Indians game on for background noise, I would finally try to get an outline written so I can evaluate exactly how much plot I have to work with.
To be fair, I think what I have worked out mostly are the essential characters and the "moments" of the story. I do not have every little detail worked out, because I'm not sure what details need to be worked out... hence the outline.
Title: Centerfield
Kate Griffin is a 23 year old bartender/aspiring screenwriter stuck in a relationship that she feels is going nowhere anytime fast. Her "fiance" of a year and a half, Derek Avery, is a workaholic and commitment-phobe, but really cares for Kate. However, besides their stagnant relationship, the two have something else between them - Kate is very passionate about baseball, while Derek believes it to be a "steroid-driven" sport fit only for men of the nineteenth century.
Kate, however, does not let her boyfriend's dislike of baseball deter her from following her beloved San Diego Padres. It's a passion she feels still connects her to her deceased father, the man who taught her the finer points of the game often overlooked by the untrained observer. According to Kate's best friend of high school and college, Chelsea Hammond, Kate sometimes overlooks some of the things that casual observer notices -- the hotties. Chelsea Hammond, also attended USC, roomed with Kate all four years, and still has not given up the dream of someday winning an Oscar. So Kate seizes the opportunity to reaquaint herself with her team and takes Chelsea to a Padres game so she can ogle after her latest athlete crush.
That crush is the twenty-five year old Brady Sullivan. The centerfielder and heartthrob of the team, Brady Sullivan is a quiet all-around good American boy. He, however, does not enjoy the "perks" of baseball, such as the constant media and fan girl attention.
Kate manages to attract Brady's attention while standing along the third base line with Chelsea and earns an autograph for herself and her friend, who stands in a catatonic state of shock from being so near to the scorching ballplayer. Kate seems relatively unaffected and this fact is not lost on Brady.
Later, after a Padres loss, Brady and fellow teammate and friend, Craig Harrison, decide to hit the Gaslight District near Petco Park to ease the sting of their thumping. Forgoing their usual haunts, Craig convices Brady to try a higher end bar, Oasis, closer to the seaside part of the city. Brady agrees and the two go off to drown the loss in a few bottles of beer.
Unbeknownst to Brady, the girl who unknowingly caught his attention, is one of Oasis's prime bartenders. So he is shocked when he notices her behind the counter. Craig, noticing his friend's smitten state, deviously attracts the attention of the lead bartender, an older grandfatherly like figure, Sam Johnston, and coerces him into getting the attention of one Kate. Sam agrees knowing of Kate's love for baseball and believes he is doing her a favor. He tells Kate that the two gentlemen in the corner specifically requested her and begrudgingly Kate accepts. Not pleased with thought of being hit on by two drunks, Kate, at first, is annoyed by Craig's insistent attempts to learn her name, but realizes who she is talking to. She is surprised that Brady remembers her, though maybe not so much as she should have been considering they met earlier that afternoon. Their chaperoned conversation amounts to nothing but a pleasant exchange of words and she wishes the two Padres luck during the rest of their season.
Kate continues her routine life of watching baseball, fighting on and off with Derek, but notices that a new routine has started to establish itself. She has begun following Brady Sullivan's season with a fervor even above her normal passion for baseball. At first, she chalks it up to the fact that she has simply met the ball player and therefore has a reason to be more interested in his career.
After a particularly hard loss, Kate once again meets Brady at Oasis, albeit without Craig. She comments of the fact that his wingman seems to be missing and Brady laughs and mumbles something noncommital. She offers to get him something but he politely declines, using a day game as an excuse. They talk throughout Kate's long shift and she comments, not because she doesn't want him there but because she's surprised at how late it is, that Brady has stayed with her for four hours and it is now 3 AM. He laughs and says "must be lonely" to which she stares and he says "Matchbox Twenty?" "Sorry, have to say country is more my style." He mock groans and claims that he has to get her away from that. She takes this as he's implying he wants to see her again. He jaws back that maybe after a loss. She manages to take the sting out of a defeat.
Kate goes home that night and wonders what is brewing between her and Brady. Sidelining it as a budding friendship, she goes to bed, completely ignoring the message on her machine.
This evolution of their relationship contines eventually leading to Brady making the first official move (still haven't figured out what that should be... I'm thinking batting practice??). Kate accepts but warns him that she's hoping he's not expecting anything from her. Brady doesn't tell her that she kind of is making the point why he's so interested.
Eventually Brady and Derek have to meet. So after a particularly nasty spat, Derek tries to make it up to Kate with special seats to a Padres game. She agrees and they go, Derek even takes her down early to make sure she can hang out along the warning track to watch some players stretch. Brady sees Kate and jogs over to say hi. When Kate introduces Derek as her fiance, Brady is taken aback and she notices that his usually pleasant face darkens with something looking a lot like anger and jealousy. Derek is oblivious to their emotion exchange and he and Kate beat a retreat to their seats. Derek gets called away during the sixth inning and apologizes telling Kate that he has no choice to go into the office and hands Kate money for a cab home. Kate is even less demoralized by being left at a ballgame, her concern is too great for what she has seen from Brady. That night he is currently 0-3 with two K's and a foulout. She can see he's letting his emotions runaway with his free-swinging bat and feels partly responsible.
Kate leaves in the eighth inning to hover around the gates of the player parking lot. She manages to spot Brady's car and instantly stakes out a spot closest to it. He comes out later than most of the other players and is instantly greeted by some underage screaming fangirls but Brady is in no mood to sign autographs. Kate gets his attention and he almost brushes her off before he signals to the security guard Roy to open the gates and let her through. Kate tries to explain herself but Brady shushes her and says he's not going to do this in public, leading her back inside the player entrance, eventually stopping in the deserted clubhouse and an argument ensues. Brady is hurt that Kate has led him on and while Kate is sort of stunned to here this backward confession she takes the low road. Brady then accuses of her of using him because of his elite status. Kate doesn't deny that that part of him wasn't appealing at first. At first, he goads her, and then the words come tumbling out before Kate even realizes what she is doing. Kate says that regardless of his current job, or if he quit baseball right then and there, Kate has fallen for Brady Sullivan the man, not necessarily just the ballplayer. He approaches her dangerously and for one second, Kate thinks he might just hurt her, but he pins her to his locker and kisses her passionately. His seduction escalates quickly and Kate thinks they might just lose all control in this dirty lockerroom when Brady stops and asks her for the time. It's after 1 in the morning and Brady winces, but decides to risk it anyway. He tells her to keep her head down and they quickly walk to the car, but not before a few flashbulbs of stalker fans flicker in the night.
Brady drives Kate to his apartment and as they walk in the door, Kate wonders if they were going to argue again. Brady paces clearly upset with something, himself, or her, when he says, I should've taken you home. Kate says, it's okay, derek doesn't live with her anyway so he wouldn't know whether or not she ever made it home. That's the green light they need, and they lose themself to their feelings.
Pictures of Brady and a faceless girl end up in the local newspaper. Chelsea calls Kate and starts some rant of the whore following around her future boyfriend, half-joking, and Kate is silent until Chelsea notices her unusual not-conversative mood. Kate tells Chelsea that the girl is her and for a few minutes, Chelsea laughs hysterically, and teases Kate for finally realizing that more than just stats step on the field. Kate is not laughing and Chelsea asks her if she is serious. Kate asks Chelsea if they can meet.
The two meet at a local smoothie shop and sit in a relatively patronless corner of the patio. Before Chelsea can question Kate, Kate spills the whole story, the night she met Brady, the ongoing time she has spent with him, the whole Derek mishap and Brady's jealousy, and finally tells her that she slept with the centerfielder. Kate isn't sure what to expect but the blatant rage and reversion back the whore comments probably did not make her top ten.
Chelsea storms out of the cafe and Kate is left wondering just how large of a mistake she has made.
The next few days Kate receives a phonecall from Brady that he is going on a roadtrip and asks if he can continue calling her. She says that he's perfectly welcome if he can lay off that outside fastball, otherwise don't bother. He tells her he's going to miss her. She replies, that he'll find some other cute bartender to drown away his lousy at-bats.
Over the next week and a half Kate sees Derek but struggles with how much she should tell him. During this week she notices that she doesn't even really want to be around him anymore. He doesn't notice her despondency and she takes this as the sign that she might have to end their relationship. The next day she meets him for lunch and suggests they should stop trying to keep their boat afloat. Derek asks her what she was talking about and Kate rehashes the story she told Chelsea leaving out a few details. Derek is obviously upset and asks if there is anything he can do to make her change her mind. He starts to say he can work less, but Kate stops him and says I've fallen in love with someone else.
Brady returns from his roadtrip and surprises Kate at Oasis. She tells him she has called things off with Derek and Brady asks if she is okay. She tells him that she might be after a good steak, he laughs and takes her on their first official date.
The next two months pass in states of periodic bliss and periodic guilt. Kate and Brady are very much in love but Kate starts to feel a lonliness for her friend. Chelsea has refused to answer any of her calls and Kate can no longer write it off as the drama queen in her friend. It seems Chelsea has really decided to end the friendship.
Meanwhile, Brady runs into Derek outside of the Oasis. Derek says he was looking for Kate and supposes that Brady was doing the same. Brady is unsure of how to respond and Derek tells him she's not there, that Sam switched her shift. Derek asks if Brady is truly in love with Kate to which Brady responds rather heatedly that he does. Derek tells him that if that's true he might want to do what he didn't have the courage to do himself. Derek says he should marry her. Brady stands there sort of shocked that his girlfriend's former fiance is giving him relationship advance when his own ended so badly. Derek tells him to just do it and turns to leave. Before leaving, he pauses and tells Brady to ask her at Petco. Brady says he's not going to do it in front of forty-thousand people. Derek responds she probably wouldn't like that.
During a late game in August, Brady surprises Kate and takes her to a special viewing of the postgame fireworks show. He leads her to the dugout and she is thrilled to have the honor of watching where her favorite team was just moments before. Brady lets the fireworks go for a few minutes keeping his eyes on Kate until she starts noticing that he is watching her more so than the show. She calls him on this, and he responds by simply kneeling to which she asks, "What are you doing?" Brady asks her to marry him, pulling a box from his back pocket. Kate stares at him in disbelief and asks him why he is doing this. He says I happened to fall in love with this bartender. She agrees tearfully.
The Padres have turned around a depressing first two months of baseball and are in contention for the playoffs. Eventually they make the playoffs and Brady surprises Kate with centerfield tickets to the playoff division series. Kate promises to attend everyone of the games, a promise that later comes back to haunt her.
Brady Sullivan is the type of ballplayer that has no regard for personal safety when it comes to making defensive plays. It's why the press has affectionately nicknamed him "bandit" and why during the fifth game of the division series against the longstanding rivals the Dodgers, Brady lies out dangerously near the warning track and unforgiving centerfield to rob Milton Bradley of extra bases. Except he doesn't get up. Kate watches with a horrified crowd as trainers and coaches and players swarm the prone body lying awkwardly in warning track dirt. Brady is rushed off in an ambulance and Kate rushes off to find out where he is being taken. Roy the security guard recognizes Kate and lets her know that Brady has gone to the nearby hospital and wishes her the best of luck.
Kate arrives at the hospital and finds Craig with his head in his hands in the waiting room. She rushes up to him asking about Brady's condition to which Craig looks up his face puffy and swollen, his cheeks covered in salty tears and says, "Kate, Brady's gone." Kate refuses to believe it. And Craig tearfully and gently tries to explain to her that he broke his neck when he slid into the wall and his heart failed on the way to the hospital. Kate asks to see him and Craig talks her past the nurse. Kate goes in and sees Brady lying faceup his body covered with the white blanket of the deceased and loses all control. Craig and Kate cry bitterly over a lost friend and fiance. Eventually Craig says that they should go. Brady wouldn't want them to spend time in a hospital. Kate at first refuses but Craig convinces her to go.
Kate at home sobs herself to sleep and wakes the next morning with several messages on her machine. The first is Sam telling her to take the week off. The second is the hospital nurse contacting one of Brady's listed emergency contacts. The third is a voice that she barely recognizes through the tears and grief, but Kate runs out the door of her apartment.
She eventually arrives at an apartment door a few minutes away from her own and knocks, the tears already streaking mascara down her eyes. Chelsea answers and the two share a quiet moment before Chelsea pulls Kate into a tight embrace.
Epilogue.
Kate returns to the ballpark a year after Brady's death. Roy lets her in early to watch the Padres closed batting practice and sits in her same seat the night of the accident. Craig notices her and comes over. The two exchange playful banter but this time it is marked with a shared grief.
To be fair, I think what I have worked out mostly are the essential characters and the "moments" of the story. I do not have every little detail worked out, because I'm not sure what details need to be worked out... hence the outline.
Title: Centerfield
Kate Griffin is a 23 year old bartender/aspiring screenwriter stuck in a relationship that she feels is going nowhere anytime fast. Her "fiance" of a year and a half, Derek Avery, is a workaholic and commitment-phobe, but really cares for Kate. However, besides their stagnant relationship, the two have something else between them - Kate is very passionate about baseball, while Derek believes it to be a "steroid-driven" sport fit only for men of the nineteenth century.
Kate, however, does not let her boyfriend's dislike of baseball deter her from following her beloved San Diego Padres. It's a passion she feels still connects her to her deceased father, the man who taught her the finer points of the game often overlooked by the untrained observer. According to Kate's best friend of high school and college, Chelsea Hammond, Kate sometimes overlooks some of the things that casual observer notices -- the hotties. Chelsea Hammond, also attended USC, roomed with Kate all four years, and still has not given up the dream of someday winning an Oscar. So Kate seizes the opportunity to reaquaint herself with her team and takes Chelsea to a Padres game so she can ogle after her latest athlete crush.
That crush is the twenty-five year old Brady Sullivan. The centerfielder and heartthrob of the team, Brady Sullivan is a quiet all-around good American boy. He, however, does not enjoy the "perks" of baseball, such as the constant media and fan girl attention.
Kate manages to attract Brady's attention while standing along the third base line with Chelsea and earns an autograph for herself and her friend, who stands in a catatonic state of shock from being so near to the scorching ballplayer. Kate seems relatively unaffected and this fact is not lost on Brady.
Later, after a Padres loss, Brady and fellow teammate and friend, Craig Harrison, decide to hit the Gaslight District near Petco Park to ease the sting of their thumping. Forgoing their usual haunts, Craig convices Brady to try a higher end bar, Oasis, closer to the seaside part of the city. Brady agrees and the two go off to drown the loss in a few bottles of beer.
Unbeknownst to Brady, the girl who unknowingly caught his attention, is one of Oasis's prime bartenders. So he is shocked when he notices her behind the counter. Craig, noticing his friend's smitten state, deviously attracts the attention of the lead bartender, an older grandfatherly like figure, Sam Johnston, and coerces him into getting the attention of one Kate. Sam agrees knowing of Kate's love for baseball and believes he is doing her a favor. He tells Kate that the two gentlemen in the corner specifically requested her and begrudgingly Kate accepts. Not pleased with thought of being hit on by two drunks, Kate, at first, is annoyed by Craig's insistent attempts to learn her name, but realizes who she is talking to. She is surprised that Brady remembers her, though maybe not so much as she should have been considering they met earlier that afternoon. Their chaperoned conversation amounts to nothing but a pleasant exchange of words and she wishes the two Padres luck during the rest of their season.
Kate continues her routine life of watching baseball, fighting on and off with Derek, but notices that a new routine has started to establish itself. She has begun following Brady Sullivan's season with a fervor even above her normal passion for baseball. At first, she chalks it up to the fact that she has simply met the ball player and therefore has a reason to be more interested in his career.
After a particularly hard loss, Kate once again meets Brady at Oasis, albeit without Craig. She comments of the fact that his wingman seems to be missing and Brady laughs and mumbles something noncommital. She offers to get him something but he politely declines, using a day game as an excuse. They talk throughout Kate's long shift and she comments, not because she doesn't want him there but because she's surprised at how late it is, that Brady has stayed with her for four hours and it is now 3 AM. He laughs and says "must be lonely" to which she stares and he says "Matchbox Twenty?" "Sorry, have to say country is more my style." He mock groans and claims that he has to get her away from that. She takes this as he's implying he wants to see her again. He jaws back that maybe after a loss. She manages to take the sting out of a defeat.
Kate goes home that night and wonders what is brewing between her and Brady. Sidelining it as a budding friendship, she goes to bed, completely ignoring the message on her machine.
This evolution of their relationship contines eventually leading to Brady making the first official move (still haven't figured out what that should be... I'm thinking batting practice??). Kate accepts but warns him that she's hoping he's not expecting anything from her. Brady doesn't tell her that she kind of is making the point why he's so interested.
Eventually Brady and Derek have to meet. So after a particularly nasty spat, Derek tries to make it up to Kate with special seats to a Padres game. She agrees and they go, Derek even takes her down early to make sure she can hang out along the warning track to watch some players stretch. Brady sees Kate and jogs over to say hi. When Kate introduces Derek as her fiance, Brady is taken aback and she notices that his usually pleasant face darkens with something looking a lot like anger and jealousy. Derek is oblivious to their emotion exchange and he and Kate beat a retreat to their seats. Derek gets called away during the sixth inning and apologizes telling Kate that he has no choice to go into the office and hands Kate money for a cab home. Kate is even less demoralized by being left at a ballgame, her concern is too great for what she has seen from Brady. That night he is currently 0-3 with two K's and a foulout. She can see he's letting his emotions runaway with his free-swinging bat and feels partly responsible.
Kate leaves in the eighth inning to hover around the gates of the player parking lot. She manages to spot Brady's car and instantly stakes out a spot closest to it. He comes out later than most of the other players and is instantly greeted by some underage screaming fangirls but Brady is in no mood to sign autographs. Kate gets his attention and he almost brushes her off before he signals to the security guard Roy to open the gates and let her through. Kate tries to explain herself but Brady shushes her and says he's not going to do this in public, leading her back inside the player entrance, eventually stopping in the deserted clubhouse and an argument ensues. Brady is hurt that Kate has led him on and while Kate is sort of stunned to here this backward confession she takes the low road. Brady then accuses of her of using him because of his elite status. Kate doesn't deny that that part of him wasn't appealing at first. At first, he goads her, and then the words come tumbling out before Kate even realizes what she is doing. Kate says that regardless of his current job, or if he quit baseball right then and there, Kate has fallen for Brady Sullivan the man, not necessarily just the ballplayer. He approaches her dangerously and for one second, Kate thinks he might just hurt her, but he pins her to his locker and kisses her passionately. His seduction escalates quickly and Kate thinks they might just lose all control in this dirty lockerroom when Brady stops and asks her for the time. It's after 1 in the morning and Brady winces, but decides to risk it anyway. He tells her to keep her head down and they quickly walk to the car, but not before a few flashbulbs of stalker fans flicker in the night.
Brady drives Kate to his apartment and as they walk in the door, Kate wonders if they were going to argue again. Brady paces clearly upset with something, himself, or her, when he says, I should've taken you home. Kate says, it's okay, derek doesn't live with her anyway so he wouldn't know whether or not she ever made it home. That's the green light they need, and they lose themself to their feelings.
Pictures of Brady and a faceless girl end up in the local newspaper. Chelsea calls Kate and starts some rant of the whore following around her future boyfriend, half-joking, and Kate is silent until Chelsea notices her unusual not-conversative mood. Kate tells Chelsea that the girl is her and for a few minutes, Chelsea laughs hysterically, and teases Kate for finally realizing that more than just stats step on the field. Kate is not laughing and Chelsea asks her if she is serious. Kate asks Chelsea if they can meet.
The two meet at a local smoothie shop and sit in a relatively patronless corner of the patio. Before Chelsea can question Kate, Kate spills the whole story, the night she met Brady, the ongoing time she has spent with him, the whole Derek mishap and Brady's jealousy, and finally tells her that she slept with the centerfielder. Kate isn't sure what to expect but the blatant rage and reversion back the whore comments probably did not make her top ten.
Chelsea storms out of the cafe and Kate is left wondering just how large of a mistake she has made.
The next few days Kate receives a phonecall from Brady that he is going on a roadtrip and asks if he can continue calling her. She says that he's perfectly welcome if he can lay off that outside fastball, otherwise don't bother. He tells her he's going to miss her. She replies, that he'll find some other cute bartender to drown away his lousy at-bats.
Over the next week and a half Kate sees Derek but struggles with how much she should tell him. During this week she notices that she doesn't even really want to be around him anymore. He doesn't notice her despondency and she takes this as the sign that she might have to end their relationship. The next day she meets him for lunch and suggests they should stop trying to keep their boat afloat. Derek asks her what she was talking about and Kate rehashes the story she told Chelsea leaving out a few details. Derek is obviously upset and asks if there is anything he can do to make her change her mind. He starts to say he can work less, but Kate stops him and says I've fallen in love with someone else.
Brady returns from his roadtrip and surprises Kate at Oasis. She tells him she has called things off with Derek and Brady asks if she is okay. She tells him that she might be after a good steak, he laughs and takes her on their first official date.
The next two months pass in states of periodic bliss and periodic guilt. Kate and Brady are very much in love but Kate starts to feel a lonliness for her friend. Chelsea has refused to answer any of her calls and Kate can no longer write it off as the drama queen in her friend. It seems Chelsea has really decided to end the friendship.
Meanwhile, Brady runs into Derek outside of the Oasis. Derek says he was looking for Kate and supposes that Brady was doing the same. Brady is unsure of how to respond and Derek tells him she's not there, that Sam switched her shift. Derek asks if Brady is truly in love with Kate to which Brady responds rather heatedly that he does. Derek tells him that if that's true he might want to do what he didn't have the courage to do himself. Derek says he should marry her. Brady stands there sort of shocked that his girlfriend's former fiance is giving him relationship advance when his own ended so badly. Derek tells him to just do it and turns to leave. Before leaving, he pauses and tells Brady to ask her at Petco. Brady says he's not going to do it in front of forty-thousand people. Derek responds she probably wouldn't like that.
During a late game in August, Brady surprises Kate and takes her to a special viewing of the postgame fireworks show. He leads her to the dugout and she is thrilled to have the honor of watching where her favorite team was just moments before. Brady lets the fireworks go for a few minutes keeping his eyes on Kate until she starts noticing that he is watching her more so than the show. She calls him on this, and he responds by simply kneeling to which she asks, "What are you doing?" Brady asks her to marry him, pulling a box from his back pocket. Kate stares at him in disbelief and asks him why he is doing this. He says I happened to fall in love with this bartender. She agrees tearfully.
The Padres have turned around a depressing first two months of baseball and are in contention for the playoffs. Eventually they make the playoffs and Brady surprises Kate with centerfield tickets to the playoff division series. Kate promises to attend everyone of the games, a promise that later comes back to haunt her.
Brady Sullivan is the type of ballplayer that has no regard for personal safety when it comes to making defensive plays. It's why the press has affectionately nicknamed him "bandit" and why during the fifth game of the division series against the longstanding rivals the Dodgers, Brady lies out dangerously near the warning track and unforgiving centerfield to rob Milton Bradley of extra bases. Except he doesn't get up. Kate watches with a horrified crowd as trainers and coaches and players swarm the prone body lying awkwardly in warning track dirt. Brady is rushed off in an ambulance and Kate rushes off to find out where he is being taken. Roy the security guard recognizes Kate and lets her know that Brady has gone to the nearby hospital and wishes her the best of luck.
Kate arrives at the hospital and finds Craig with his head in his hands in the waiting room. She rushes up to him asking about Brady's condition to which Craig looks up his face puffy and swollen, his cheeks covered in salty tears and says, "Kate, Brady's gone." Kate refuses to believe it. And Craig tearfully and gently tries to explain to her that he broke his neck when he slid into the wall and his heart failed on the way to the hospital. Kate asks to see him and Craig talks her past the nurse. Kate goes in and sees Brady lying faceup his body covered with the white blanket of the deceased and loses all control. Craig and Kate cry bitterly over a lost friend and fiance. Eventually Craig says that they should go. Brady wouldn't want them to spend time in a hospital. Kate at first refuses but Craig convinces her to go.
Kate at home sobs herself to sleep and wakes the next morning with several messages on her machine. The first is Sam telling her to take the week off. The second is the hospital nurse contacting one of Brady's listed emergency contacts. The third is a voice that she barely recognizes through the tears and grief, but Kate runs out the door of her apartment.
She eventually arrives at an apartment door a few minutes away from her own and knocks, the tears already streaking mascara down her eyes. Chelsea answers and the two share a quiet moment before Chelsea pulls Kate into a tight embrace.
Epilogue.
Kate returns to the ballpark a year after Brady's death. Roy lets her in early to watch the Padres closed batting practice and sits in her same seat the night of the accident. Craig notices her and comes over. The two exchange playful banter but this time it is marked with a shared grief.