Painted Love-Matisse Thybulle

Chapter 7: Not Even Sometimes

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know
Why it never worked, but it's going to now
You don't know, you don't know, you don't know
What it does to me when I feel you around
Is it love? Is it lust? Is it fear?
But it's hard to breathe when you're touching me there
Hard to breathe when you're kissing me there
Hard to breathe when you're not here

2 Weeks Later: Matisse POV:

Matisse closed his apartment front door and turned his phone off not wanting to talk to anyone. He placed his backpack on his barstool, chucked off his chucks, and headed into his bedroom. He was irritated at himself, his teammates, the day, the entire series. They had played great at times and shitty at others. The series was tied and they had made it until game seven where they still had a chance, until they didn't. He grabbed the pillow off his bed and punched it furiously, before screaming into it. How did it all go so wrong at home? They had lost the game in the last three minutes. Their season was over and they had to watch as their opponents would go on to play for the championship. Yeah, he made a stupid foul that he wish he could take back but at least he tried. Several of his teammates had given up on the court including star player Ben Simmons. Stupid careless mistakes was one thing. Not getting shots to go down was another. Those were forgivable. But Ben had a wide open dunk and instead passed the ball to Matisse who was smushed between two players. Ben was so scared of having to make free throws that he made Matisse do it, when he knew that was a weakness of his. Ben was so effin selfish that he killed the momentum of the game. Matisse punched his pillow again. The entire internet was talking about that play and he couldn't escape it.  EVERYONE wanted Ben gone from the staff to fans to the rest of the team. Ben didn't even have the balls to apologize for putting him in the position. He wouldn't even look at Matisse as he left the locker room which made him even angrier. The play ran through his head over in his mind as the clock hit zero. And in the locker room. Everyone was silent. Matisse got dressed and went to go do interviews so he could get out of their. The tension in the locker room was thick and noone was saying anything,  Speaking to the media after the game was awful. They tried to ask about the Olympics but he wasn't in the mood to think about that. He just wanted to be home away from this game. To make things worse, it was very possible that Matisse could be traded because of Ben's shitty playing. He didn't know what to think. He just wanted to break something in that moment. Maybe i'll feel better after a shower. His mind was swirling and he wish he could make it stop. He wished Casey was here. He needed her right now.

Casey POV:

Casey  sat in the airport anxiously shaking her foot. She was on her way back to Connecticut after the Western Conference Finals. She thought she was staying in Phoenix longer since the championship round would start there. Jeremiah told her that she was being sent to Tokyo instead to do a little Olympic coverage. She wanted to wait until after the game to tell Matisse. She knew he would be so excited to know that they would be in Tokyo together. That was until she saw the end of the game. Casey got to the airport early so she could watch the game from there and not be rushed to get to her flight. Her emotions went from elated to horrified as the game ended. Her heart was breaking for Tisse. She knew he was beating himself up for that foul but he wasn't responsible for that loss. So much had gone wrong that game that she hoped Tisse was blaming himself for it. To add to her worry, he wasn't picking up his phone which wasn't like him at all. She was concerned that something bad had happened. God will this flight hurry up! It had been a long two weeks. She hadn't adjusted to the time change, it was hot out West, and the staff at both her hotels had been horrible. She was grateful to have the opportunity to go to the Olympics especially since Matisse was going to play for team Australia. It would be harder for them to see each other since they were going to be strict due to Covid but it was a job that she couldn't turn down. Her main concern right now was getting back so she could comfort Matisse. "Now boarding flight from Phoenix to New York First Class and Seats 1-30"  She picked up her backpack, happy that they were finally boarding the plane. She pulled out her phone to send Matisse a text. She normally wasn't one to pay for wifi on the plane but she was going to tonight. She needed to hear from him. She scanned her ticket and got onto the plane, praying for a safe flight home and for a response from Matisse.