aLOVEthing

twenty four | another round

Steph sat on the chair as the sweat dripped profusely from his head. Today, he was a bit more irritable and upset. And he figured he needed to take out his anger on the court.

Yet once again.

Heart, as expected, was acting a bit distant. Not too distant, but he knew she was hurt and that was the one thing he hated the most. He couldn't turn back time to change his decisions, no matter how badly he wanted to. He just knew he had to be better from here on out & he was willing to do just that & more.

After she stopped blocking him out.

"Yo, are you still trying to go for more rounds?" Dray asked, catching his breath as he held the ball closely to his side. "Please don't do this again."

"Yeah, just give me a second."

"Nah man, I'm tired as hell. You got me recovering from the past days still. Ask Klay to play with you."

"Klay ain't doing shit." Klay responded from behind. "I'm tired too."

"I think we're done for today, bruh. Let's cool it and get something to eat."

"No, I'm trying to play. If you guys don't wanna be here then it's good. You can leave." Steph said, throwing a little attitude as he grabbed the ball from Draymond.

"Look, I know you goin' through some things but that don't mean you needa be putting so much pressure on yourself."

"I can do what I want."

"Steph come on, Dray's right. Just put the ball down & chill."

"Like I said, the door is open. You guys can leave if you can't handle playing another round."

"Man, whatever. Ball." Dray asked for the ball, making Steph throw him the ball very aggressively. "Steph don't be testing me like that, bruh."

"Just take it out so we can play." So Dray did what he was told. Him and Klay were both irritated at the way he was acting, but he wasn't going to say a word. Yeah, he was mad. & Yeah, nobody in their right mind should be spreading their negativity like this.

But if Steph needed to release some steam, then what else were they supposed to do?

During their round of playing ball, Steph aggressively attacked the ball and made his shots, inside and out. & By aggressively, he got a couple of good shoves in with Draymond and Klay, making them subtly shake their head at the way he was playing.

"That was a goddamn foul." Klay spat out.

"Yeah, whatever. Take it out."

"Nah, dude. I'm done. I'm tired. Call it what you want, but your ass got some good ones in there & I think you really need to chill the hell out."

"He's right Steph, you're trippin--"

"Take it out. One more." Steph threw the ball at Draymond.

"You sure you don't wanna talk this out?"

"Talk about what? Nothing's bugging me." Dray shook his head and quietly gave the point guard his wish for another round. Losing the ball, Steph went after it and ran to the other court. Being that he was too tired, Draymond let it happen without thinking twice of chasing him down.

"FUCK!" Stephen yelled. Both Draymond and Klay turned, seeing him on the floor, grabbing at his ankle and wincing in pain.

"Yo, Steph! What happened, man?" Dray asked as they ran to his side. Observing his ankle, Stephen yelled louder in pain, as the tears slowly dropped from his eyes.

"I told you to cool it." Klay sucked his teeth as he helped him up. "Can you walk on it?"

"No, I can't."

"Just try, or else me and Dray can't figure out how to help you." Stephen quietly put pressure on his right ankle, groaning in pain as he realized he couldn't walk on it.

"Let's bring you to the ER."

"The ER? What's that gonna do for me?"

"Well damn, you can't even walk on your goddamn own Stephen. Who knows how bad you fucked up! Only the doctor can tell us that now." Dray said as he helped carried him to his car. "We done told your ass to relax and you wanted to get all gung-ho about your feelings. I should've whooped ya ass the moment your elbow met my chest - that way, you'd wake the hell up & we wouldn't be in this predicament!"

"Alright, I get it, I'm sorry. It's just been rough lately."

"Oh now you wanna talk! I told you we could talk this out. Nah Steph, you done fucked up--"

"Draymond, if you dont keep your voice down and keep trying to argue." Klay said lowly on the other side of Steph.

"Or what! He needs to know he was being dumb on his part. You just betta hope that ankle gon' be good for the season."

"I'll be fine." Steph said as he settled into Draymond's car. The ride to the nearby hospital was a quick one down the street, with Steph's admittance being no longer than 10 minutes since his arrival. Not one word was spoken between the three, knowing the heat and tension was still around.

Nobody wanted to add fuel to the fire.

"I'll be back." Draymond said as he stood up and got ready to leave Klay in the waiting room.

"Where are you going? You about to get some food? I want a--"

"No I'm not getting food, bruh." Dray scrunched his forehead as he looked down at him.

"Damn alright."

"I just need to make a quick phone call."

"Well if you do get some food, hit me. I want a sandwich from Ike's down the street. Give me that Menage A Trois on Dutch Crunch with some avocados. Everything else on it, too."

"The hell I look like, Klay? Door Dash?"

"You can be since you're about to head out the door."

"For a phone call." Dray sucked his teeth. "Quit playin' me. I should let your ass starve."

"Don't forget my avocados."

"Shut the hell up." Dray said as he walked out and pressed the phone to his ear. Not gonna lie, Ike's sounded real good. So he might just give in and get them their sandwiches after the call.

Steph worked the hell out of them during their games earlier.

Hoping he would be able to talk to the person needed the most at this moment, his call was sent straight to voicemail.

"Damn." He said as he let the recording finish saying what it needed to say. He sighed as he ran his fingers across his forehead a couple of times. "Hey Heart, It's Draymond. I'm sorry I'm calling pretty unexpectedly. Don't worry, things are fine. But there's something I need to talk to you about. Holla at me when you're free. Thanks."