8. Sidekick

Sorry guys, I just realized how short this one was... I'll try to make tomorrow's longer! - Z

I Will Follow You - ctrlaltrock(Cover)

“Hey… I didn’t expect to see you here… where’s Jeff?” Alex asked as he walked towards Evan, moving through the cars in the players parking lot, until he reached her.
She was standing beside his car, her hands tucked into the pockets of her grey hoodie. She watched him come up beside her, searching for any kind of anger in his all-seeing brown eyes.

“He’s out with Hartnell… spending the night there.” She explained, a visible shiver running through her as Alex unlocked the SUV, opening the passenger door for her.
She climbed in and buckled up, watching as Alex headed around to the other side; pulling open his own door and sliding in. “Is it ok if-”

“-yes, absolutely.” Alex grinned, stuffing the key into the ignition and pulled out onto the highway. “You know you can stay at my place anytime.”

Evan smiled back in the darkness, the streetlights flashing lights through the window as Alex navigated the narrow city streets, just enough that Alex could see the sparkle of her eye periodically. “Are you sure the guys aren’t gonna mind?”

“No.” He answered quickly, fairly sure no one would say anything to him; but in reality, he didn’t really care. “They know now though… about you and Jeff I mean.” He explained further when she didn’t say anything; wanting to give her a heads up in case they decided to say anything.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, to the point that Alex wondered whether or not she was angry at him for that. He didn’t understand why, but usually Evan would voice anything to him, her silence worried him. “Is that why he was by your bench in the third? Was he saying something to you?”

Alex tilted his head as he turned onto the last road. “Yah… nothing really bad though…” He said slowly, not wanting to say anything that would upset her. “He just, made a comment and the guys figured it out. Don’t worry about it though… guys say a lot of things in the heat of the moment. Emotions running high and all that, lots of people run their mouths.”

“You don’t.” Was all she said, before turning her head to glance out the window.

They pulled into the driveway a moment later and Alex slowly turned the car off, glancing over at Evan all the while. “Are you mad at me?” He asked finally, trying to sound nonchalant.

She gave him an airy laugh, reaching for the handle and pushing her door open. “No, just thinking about some things… we going in?”

Alex nodded and together they headed up the short walkway. Alex jumped up the steps to get the door; trying to be as quiet as possible.
Having taken so long to get ready, he was actually one of the last people to leave the locker-room, so he wasn’t sure where his roomies would be. Of course, it was still early so chances were that they weren’t home yet.
At least he hoped so.

“Chubby!” Evan squealed as soon as Alex was through the door. The massive, black cat ran to her, jumping up into her awaiting arms. “Aww! Still as sweet as ever I see… how are you baby boy?” She cooed, scratching him under the chin.

He purred loudly, throwing a glare in Alex’s direction before Evan carried him into the house. She stepped out of her sneakers and headed towards the stairs, glancing back to make sure Alex was following after them.

When Evan reached his room, she set Chubby down on the floor before flopping onto Alex’s bed with a sigh. Alex joined her on the bed, rolling over onto his side to watch her as she stared at the ceiling; her fingers interlaced across her chest.
They lied there for some time, each of them in their own thoughts, when Chubby clawed his way onto the bed, pushing his way in between them. “Get your ass out of my face.” Alex finally sighed, after Chubby had situated her rear-end by Alex’s ear.

Evan giggled, finally relaxing her position enough to give Chubby a gentle shove. She rolled on to her side and stared at Alex; who was staring back. “What’s wrong, Evan?” He asked quietly, worried and curious at the same time.

He watched her take a deep breath and look away from him, pain flashing through her delicate features as Alex reached out, gently brushing his fingers along her cheek; ready to catch the tears he knew were about to fall.
“Do you ever feel like you’re making a big mistake? Like things weren’t suppose to turn out the way they did… but they are what they are and you can’t do anything about it?” She gushed, her first tear rolling down to land on Alex’s finger. “I just… fuck, Alex.”

Alex wasn’t sure what had brought this on, Evan had seemed fine before the game; and the Jeff had had a good game, there was no way he’d be mad enough to upset her. He wanted her to elaborate, to explain to him what it was that was making her so upset, so hurt; he wanted to protect her, the stop the pain and promise her that he would make everything ok.
Instead he just reached out and pulled her towards him.

She gladly obliged, her hands gripping at Alex’s light cotton shirt; clutching herself against him, as if he was a life-line. He was a life-line.
Alex didn’t press her for any information, he knew that she would tell him, but only when she was ready to do so. Evan was thankful for his silence, allowing herself to relax against him until her sobs stopped.

Alex kissed the top of her and she shifted around until they were face to face; still wrapped in each other.
Evan thought that Alex was going to kiss her, when he timidly moved towards her, but he pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. He was confused, and trying to keep his emotions in check.
Evan needed him right now as a friend, nothing more. Maybe it was inappropriate to be lying this close with a woman that was almost a bride, but he felt too comfortable to move away.

They laid like that until the both fell asleep; the tossing and turns of dreams changing their positions.
When Evan woke up a few hours later, Alex was on his back, and she was laying with her head on his chest. Her right hand was intertwined with the fingers of his left.
He was holding her hand against his heart; even in the clutches of unconsciousness, openly offering himself to her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Balloons - Julia Nunes

She pulled in a deep breath, lifting her head gently to stare down at Alex. He looked so peaceful, so content as he gently clutched her hand in his; imploring her to stay.
Evan tried to remember what had happened before, how she had ended up here…

Jeff had laughed at what she was wearing and mocked Alex, none of which was new, but he wasn’t just picking on her this time. Of course, if he was jealous of her relationship with Alex, he would have said something; but that’s not what this was about.
He was trying to hurt her. Not because of jealously or envy, not because he was mad at her, but because he knew he could. That was what their relationship was coming down to.
Evan wasn’t that type of person, she didn’t want to be catty, or put Jeff down in an attempt to make herself feel better.
She was sick of being let down by him; by being hurt and being made to feel like she was doing something wrong.

If she really wanted to bring him down, she could accuse him, or get angry at the fact that he was gone all the time. That, of course, wouldn’t be fair though, and she didn’t want to start a fight on the grounds of trying to make him feel bad.
She just wanted things to go back to the way that they were; or the way that she felt they should be.

Sure, Jeff could be an asshole sometimes; but he was her asshole. As foolish as it sounded, he was the one that had got down on his knees and asked her to marry him, ‘make him the happiest man in the world’, or so he had said.
He was the one that had begged her to move down to Philly, and he was the one that wanted to give her everything in the whole world.

Deep down he was a good man, even if he forgot it sometimes. After all, how many guys would give up going out to the bars, or a night in with their fiancé, just to keep a friend company? Hartnell was having marital problems, and Jeff was taking it upon himself to help Scott work through it.
He was there all the time, giving up his free evenings in an attempt to help out a friend. What kind of asshole would do that?

Alex let out a soft sigh and Evan froze, glancing up at his restful face. She wasn’t sure why she was to desperate for him to stay asleep, but suddenly, she needed to leave.
She could admit to herself that she was falling in love with him again; but that wouldn’t be entirely true… she had always been in love with him.
At first, the idea of moving to Philadelphia seemed like a fantastic idea; she’d be living with her fiancé and closer to her best friend. Now however, it seemed like fate was mocking her.
She was so close to Alex geographically, but further away from him than she had ever been emotionally. Of course, she could always count on him for anything, and in a way, that made it worse.

She couldn’t do this, and she couldn’t be here. She was allowing Alex to get too close to her, and it was inappropriate.
Evan was just to comfortable, she was so unwilling to let go of her old feelings, that she was involuntarily forcing Alex into a row he didn’t want. He didn’t want to be some knight in shining armour that swooped down and rescued her from a failing relationship, that was sure to be a failed marriage. No, he wanted to be her friend, her sidekick; not her hero.


She climbed out of the cab and hurried up her driveway, surprised at the thick, chill that was clinging in the air. It slinked underneath the light fabric of her hoodie and caressed her skin; sending goose-bumps along her pale flesh.
Pulling the door open quickly, she slammed it shut; hurriedly locking the bolt in place before turning towards the stairs.

Evan was halfway up before she stopped in her tracks, turning around and glancing over her shoulder at the door.
Sighing, she slowly descended the stairs again. When she reached the landing she undid the deadbolt, only leaving the simple, handle lock, in place.

She gave a shy, sad grin into the darkness of her home before retaking the stairs.
The whole house seemed cold, more empty than usual. Evan pulled off her clothing and changed into one of Jeff’s workout shirts, before crawling up the length of the king-sized bed and slipping under the covers.
She grabbed the blankets in her hands and pulled them around her closely, quickly sliding her legs on the mattress in an attempt to heat up the bed.

Evan tried not to think about Alex and the heat of his room, especially not the heat of his body; the very body she had spent most of the night wrapped around. She tried not to think about all the reasons that she should have stayed, and tried to focus on the reason she left. Rolling over, Evan reached her hand towards the tiny green light that was glowing on the bedside table.
She clutched her fingers around it and pulled the cordless phone back towards her.

Dialling in Jeff’s number, she sighed, pulling the sheets over her head as she waited for the voicemail.

“Evan?” Jeff asked groggily, the sound of her name surprising her, and at the same time, flushing her body with shame. She should tell him that she slept on Alex, but she couldn’t. She didn’t want to.

“Hey Jeff… I thought you’d be asleep… I was just gonna leave you a voicemail.” She replied, her voice muffled from the weight of the thick blankets on her.

“Why are you awake? Miss me that much?” He chuckled quietly, causing Evan to roll her eyes.

“Yes…” She whispered back, “and to tell you that I left the deadbolt undone… just in case you’re home before I’m up.”

Pause. “Oh… thanks.” He sounded surprised, but Evan could hear the grin in his voice when he asked, “why are you whispering?”

Evan smiled from underneath her fort of sheets. “I don’t know… it’s night time, and it’s dark…”

“Are you scared?”

“No.” She replied quickly, sulkily.

“I could come home now… if you want.” He said hesitantly, sounding almost vulnerable as he offered her the choice.

She smiled, feeling an unexplainable tear leak out of her eye and trace down the side of her face until it rolled off onto the mattress. “I’d like that.”