That things fall toward the earth when you drop them is a fact.
The theory of gravitation explains that, and many other facts.
As I tried to explain earlier and you explain here so well, that particular theory became a "fact" in itself and we use it to build other theories. This is not uncommon in science. We use "theoretic facts" if you will, as measurements for many other purposes in science and in everyday life in general.
Some things in science are very close to indisputable..like when measuring with a ruler you can mark off an inch. But many other of our measurements may change over time or with the environment.
The ball and the earth move toward each other, according to the currently-accepted model of about the last 350 years.
I suppose you could approximate it your way, if you find exponents confusing.