The first thing I notice when I open my eyes is the familiarity of the room, and I relax into the pillows as relief fills my body. Finally, I'm back in my apartment.
As soon as I try to sit up, pain shoots through the side of my face, and I gasp as my hand flies up to touch the swollen skin. Throwing off the covers, I run over to my dresser and freeze when I see my relflection.
My cheek is swollen, and a dark angry bruise is forming. If someone walked in and saw me now, they would think that I got into a fight with a WWE Diva.
"Mommy! You got an ouchie!" Hope's surprised voice startles me, and I quickly whip my head around to see her standing in my doorway with a frown in her cute little face. Trying to force my lips to form into a smile, I walk over to her and give her a hug.
"I know, Hope. I... I fell."
Hope tilts her head up at me and frowns harder. "I fall too, mommy, but I don't get ouchies that bad."
Knowing that she is too smart for her own good, I laugh it off as I usher her out if my room and down the hallway to the living room, hoping that I can find something there to distract her.
"Mommy will be fine, really. Um...is...who else is home?" I ask nervously as my eyes scan the visible parts of the small apartment. Just because the coast looks clear doesn't mean that it is.
"Ava! Mommy is up!" Hope sing sings as she skips into the kitchen, and I stand at the end of the hallway nervously, not knowing what to expect from my friend.
As soon as Ava walks into the room, I become worried. This girl is one of the most expressive people that I know, and the fact that her face is competelt void of emotion makes me wonder if she knows what happened.
The two of us stare at one another for a few moments, and the longer her gaze remains on me, the more nervous I become. I could really use a friend right now, and if she turns her back on me...
"Does it hurt?" She asks quietly, nodding to the angry bruise on my face.
Slowly, I nod my head as I reach up to touch it again. It feels like it is getting worse every few minutes.
Ava nods her head once. "Good."
My eyes widen and my mouth forms into a small 'o' as I watch Ava bend down to Hope's level and tell her to go to her room, which she happily complies with. As soon as the sound of the door clicking shut rings out, I know that I am in trouble.
"So who hit you? Klay or Nick?"
My brow furrows. "Nick, but it wasn't on purpose. I-..."
"Damn," Ava says with disappointment as she snaps her fingers and sighs dramatically, "it should've been Klay. I'm really upset he didn't get a crack at you. The least Nick could have done was throw everything he had into that punch.
My eyes narrow and I reel back as if I have been slapped all over again. "What?"
Ava glares at me, and if looks could kill, I'd have been dead in an instant. "You...you...you're an ungrateful skank! Klay gave you freaking everything you wanted and so much more, and you threw that all away for what, one night with team slag?"
Before I can argue, Ava stalks towards me like a hunter in the prowl.
"He deserves so much better than you! You're beyond stupid, you know that, Logan? You're officially the stupidest person that has ever lived because you gave up the greatest thing that ever happened to you!"
"Ava, I-..." I try, but before I can continue, she lets out a loud growl before pouncing on me.
I gasp in pain as her hand slaps my bruised cheek, and it takes all of my willpower not to collapse onto the floor and bawl my eyes out. God, that hurt.
Growling back, I push her away from me and frown when her back hits up against the wall, although I watch with some satisfaction as she winces. Good, now she knows what pain she is causing me.
To my surprise, she jumps on me and tackles me onto the ground like a football player. Her hands grab fistfulls of my curls as she yanks them in all directions, and I cry out as I feel them being stretched to the limit.
"Ava, let go!" I yell, all the while trying to pry her hands out of my hair.
"Stop being so stupid and maybe I will!" She bites back, and I scream in frustration before rolling us over and getting a good hit into her stomach, which finally causes her to let go of my hair.
This is not how I pictured this conversation going.
Ava hits my bruised cheek again, and I slap her hard in retaliation. She has no idea how much that hurts. My entire face is throbbing like a heart right now.
"Woah! What the hell is going on?!" Seth's voice rings out, but I don't care. I continue to roll around on the ground with Ava like little kids on a playground.
A strong pair of arms wrap around my waist and pry me off of her, and I gasp for breath as I watch Seth lift Ava off of the floor and hold her back in his arms as she tries to come at me again.
"What is wrong with you two? You're acting like five year olds!" Steph scolds us, and I allow my body to sag back against his in relief. If it had been Klay behind me, I don't know what I would have done.
Ava glares at me with a bruised lip and reddened face. "She's the stupidest broad on the planet! She cheated on Klay! How in the hell is that okay?!"
Silent tears trail down my cheeks as my legs wobble beneath me, and I am grateful when Steph's arms tighten around me to keep me upright.
Swallowing hard, I bite back, "Don't talk about what you don't know, Ava."
She laughs cruelly as she tries to break out of Seth's grasp, but he holds on to her tightly. "Oh, please! You know what I know? I know that you never know when you have something good. There's a reason why you're going to end up lonely and bitter in your old age, and you'll always be a sorry excuse for a-..."
"Finish that sentence and you'll be sorry."
All of us turn our heads towards the door, where Klay is standing with a bandaged hand and a lethal look on his face. My heart pounds so loudly against my chest that I am afraid that everyone can hear it, and as afraid as I am, I can't take my eyes off of the handsome man standing just feet away from me.
Staring down at my bare feet, I pray that the floor will open up and swallow me whole at any second, just so I can avoid seeing the hurt look on his face.
"B-b-but Klay! She cheated on you!" Ava hisses, causing me to wince and my heart to break a little more.
"Ava," Klay says in a warning voice.
"No! Let me freaking go, Seth," she demands, and when I look up, she is standing toe to toe with Klay. If the situation was different, then it would be hilarious seeing such a short girl try to berate a Golden State Warrior, "Aren't you furious? She. Cheated. On. You."
He just glares down at her. "Actually, she didn't, but even if she did, it's none of your damn business. The only two people in this relationship are me and Logan, so go mind your own damn business."
All eyes turn to Ava, and I start to actually feel bad for her. It isn't like her to feel this strongly about anything that I do, and I can't help but wonder...
"Ava," I say quietly, and when her furious watery eyes snap to meet mine, I give her a sympathetic look, "are you okay?"
Her hands ball up into fists, and I know in an instant that she is ready to punch me again. Bracing myself for impact, I close my eyes and turn the bad side of my face away...
...only to hear Seth's loud yelp sound through the apartment.
"What the hell, Ava?!" Seth growls as he rubs his cheek that she just punched, and instead of answering him, she follows that blow with slap after slap to his chest.
"You asshole! I hope your night with that basketball wife was worth it! Couldn't resist having a taste of some Asia, huh?!" She yells at him with tears streaming down her cheeks, and I stand there speechless, watching as Steph lets me go and hurries to pull her away from his brother, who looks like a dear caught in headlights.
"H-how'd you find out?"
Ava scoffs. "Maybe because when you came home last night, I checked your phone! Your little sex video you made with her sure wasn't there when we started going out. Oh, and the fact that you don't wear Paisley Pink lip gloss from MAC!"
Seth rubs the back of his head and groans before muttering a bunch of expletives, and I watch as Steph shakes his head at his brother and Klay glares at him.
Ava sniffles before turning to look at me and shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, Logan. I just- I can't right now, I'm sorry!"
Ava lands one more slap against Seth's chest before she rushes to her bedroom and slams the door shut behind her.
All of our eyes then turn to Seth, who is staring down at his Nike clad feet. "She wasn't supposed to find out.. I just...damnit!"
Steph grabs his brother by the back of his shirt and drags him out of our apartment, and I wince as I hear him cussing him out along the way.
There had been so much going on in the last few minutes that I almost forgot about the man standing not too far away from me, and I try to focus on anything except him. One look at his handsome face and I know I will fall apart.
My eyes close when I feel a strong hand gently touching my bruised cheek, and I bite my lip gently to keep from crying out.
Whether he yells at me and tells me he never wants to see me again, throws a punch in of his own, or doesn't say anything to me, I will accept it. It's painfully obvious that I don't deserve him.
As I wait for him to say something, to make a move, my entire world feels as if it is hanging in the balance right now, and I pray that he will put me out of my misery soon.