Learning Curves || Rise Donnie x Reader

↬Fourteen↫

No matter what you tried, you couldn't get your mom's words out of your head. You still hadn't made her or Dad proud. You weren't doing good enough.

You tossed and turned in your bed, kept awake with thoughts of what you had to do. At one point, Donnie's words came back to you about your parents never being proud of you, but you immediately tossed it aside. They could be proud of you—it was illogical to say they couldn't. The basketball championship was your last chance to make them proud, your last Hail Mary shot. You couldn't give up until you were crowned the champions.

Donnie... He had been a distraction since you first sent him a message on that fanfiction site. You even said it yourself when talking to Coach Anderson that he made you forget about basketball. If you wanted to make your parents proud, you'd have to focus. But in order to eliminate the problem...

Your heart hurt at the very thought of casting him aside, and you felt a sigh leave your lips. You couldn't cut him out of your life just like that, you were emotionally attached to him and, well, if you were honest...you had feelings for him. But you couldn't be with him! You'd known that since the beginning, which is why you suggested the friends-with-benefits relationship in the first place—it had the perks of a relationship without the emotional vulnerability or obligations. It was perfect.

But then you had to go and catch feelings for him—which were returned, even if he didn't want to admit it. But that only seemed to make the whole thing that much worse. You could actually have a good relationship with him. Sure you two made fun of each other constantly, but you had each other's backs. Sure it was purely sexual at first, but it had evolved so much further past that. Sure you told yourself you were only using him just like he was using you for selfish reasons, but then you were lying to yourself. You truly loved him.

Your hands tightened around your blankets and you sat bolt upright. Love? No no no, you didn't- You let out a tired sigh. Yes, yes you did. You loved him. You went and fell in love with him like an idiot.

"Captain? You ok?" Layla's tired voice came from across the room, and your scared gaze snapped to her in a panic. She was slowly sitting up in bed, her phone screen shutting off, but she paused when she saw your face. "Whoa, are you crying?"

"What? No." You ran a hand down your face to make sure. "Just thinking about stuff."

"So, don't take this the wrong way, but you look..." She ran over a list of words in her mind. "...distressed."

"Cuz I am." You sighed and put your face in your hands. There was silence for a moment, then you heard her moving around. Slowly taking your hands away, you spotted Layla setting up the projector. "Lay, it's midnight, we need to sleep."

"Well my dormie is stuck awake because she's upset about something," she grunted out as she put effort into setting it up. "So I want to help her."

"By watching an old Jupiter Jim movie?" you deadpanned, but the corner of your lips were curling up.

"It's a great distraction!" She smiled brightly, looking like her own little ray of sunshine. "Unless you wanna talk about it?"

"Nope." You never talked about it, and she knew you well enough to know that to be the case. Except, you talked to Donnie about it. The reminder of your turtle just seemed to make you more distressed.

"That's what I thought. And I know last time we watched Jupiter Jim's 3rd Last Trip to the Moon, but since I know it's your favorite, do you want to watch it again?" She rivaled a cookie's sweetness.

"Sure." Then you shot her a small smile. "And if you want, we can watch together on the floor this time." Her eyes popped and her jaw dropped.

"Seriously? Don't answer that, no take-backs!" She practically danced as she set up the floor between your beds to be a mini bed of its own. You joined her in making it comfy, and once both your heads were on your pillows, she started the movie.