SURPRISE!!!! I know none of y'all expected me to update again but I still write a lot on my own and recently I've really started to like Donovan and Darius so I wrote this a few days ago and I really like it so I wanted to share it with y'all ❤️
Darius walked into his apartment defeated. As he looked around he realized why he chose to live there instead of owning a house. Nothing was guaranteed, not in life and certainly not in basketball. After the teams performance, after his performance, he thought, he could see himself getting shipped off in a trade before the season started. An apartment is easier move out of than a house.
His phone buzzed in his pocket but ignored it as he made his way father into the apartment. He had taken his shoes off at the door, and wanted nothing more than to lay down and forget everything that had just happened.
•••••
As he was getting settled in bed for the night after changing out of his post game clothes he heard his front door open. He was about to get out of bed when a familiar voice called out from his living room.
"Garland?" Donovan questioned as he shut the door behind him, inviting himself into Darius's apartment.
"My room." Darius said, just loud enough for Donovan to hear him from behind the door. The door opened slowly, letting the light in from the living room, illuminating Donovan's silhouette standing in the doorway.
"I texted but you didn't answer." Donovan said and something inside Darius told him Donovan wasn't going to be leaving any time soon so he sat up in bed and turned his bedside lamp on. As a result, the light lit up Donovan's face. Darius took a sharp breath in as he looked at the mess of a man in front of him. If he thought he had looked tired, Donovan looked exhausted. "Come on Donovan, take your jacket off, sit down." Darius offered as he motioned to the space beside him in bed. Donovan only half listened as he sat beside Darius in bed, stretching his legs out against the comforter underneath him, he had left his jacket on but Darius didn't care. They sat in silence, neither knowing what to say.
"We were supposed to win." Donovan said softly, his voice thick and shaky as he tried to talk. "We were fourth." He said as he stared at his hands, trying to find answers for an unsolvable problem.
"I know." Was all Darius responded as he looked over at Donovan briefly. The light reflected Donovan's side profile and the tears that were threatening to fall down his face. It wouldn't have been new, Darius had seen Donovan cry before, but never over basketball. Donovan had cried when his sister got into a car accident and he wasn't able to make sure she was okay because he was on a road trip to California. Of course, his sorrow was short lived when his sister called him and assured him she was alright and it was just a small accident in a parking lot. Although Darius had seen Donovan cry before, he knew this time it would be different because the hurt he felt wasn't able to be fixed by a simple phone call.
"We were the better team." Donovan said, the acceptance of defeat becoming more evident in his voice as he talked.
"I know." Darius said again. It was the only thing he could think to say, he knew no matter what he said it wouldn't change what Donovan thought.
"It's my fault." Donovan said and a tear slid down his face after his comment, as if he had fully accepted and believed what he was saying.
"No." Darius said softly as he shifted his position in his bed so he could be closer to Donovan. "Donovan." He said softly as he moved Donovan's face to look at him.
"I don't understand." He whispered as his voice shook from trying to not cry. "I don't understand what we did wrong, what I did wrong. I came to the team and we were supposed to win, I was supposed to win for Cleveland." He said and Darius shook his head no as he wiped the tear that fell down Donovan's cheek.
