aLOVEthing

seventeen | apologies & surprises

As the days went on, the doctor and nurses kept a close eye on Heart. But Stephen continuously told them she was getting better and that she just needed space to recover.

When really, he just wanted to do everything in his power to make things better for her. Every now and then, he'd catch a glimpse of her getting anxious. Paranoid. Afraid. & He knew it was all a part of her healing process.

As for Draymond and Dom, they headed back home to get back to work, especially knowing Heart was okay and in good hands. But Dom had more important things to take care of regarding the incident. This was only the beginning.

"Wardell?" Heart kept her eyes on the coloring book in front of me as she kept her focus, coloring silently and elegantly.

"What's up babygirl?" Stephen looked up from his laptop screen, amidst doing some work.

"Do you think.. I'll really fully recover from
this?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"I don't know. You know, going through it is so traumatizing. You just don't know if you'll ever be strong enough to get past it."

"Doesn't mean you won't find that inner strength and pull through though. I know you. You're a strong, independent woman. Things don't get past you."

"You're so sweet." She softly smiled.

"Anytime. And besides. You always have me. I'm not going to let anything get to you." She smiled again as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Stephen watched her from his peripherals, as her smile quickly turned into a frown. Suddenly, she seemed upset and he wasn't sure why. But he wasn't going to force things out of her if she wasn't ready.

"Wardell."

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can we talk about everything?"

"What do you mean talk about everything?"

"The whole Jordan thing."

"I mean I already beat his ass and everything--"

"Which is great." She chuckled. "But not that."

"Well, what about him?" He slightly lowered his laptop screen to give the girl his full attention. She sighed as she dug her head into her hands before running them through her hair.

"I'm just so sorry."

"Sorry about what, Heart?"

"I thought I could trust him as a friend. I'm sorry for defending him and pushing you aside for him."

"It's okay baby girl, we all make mistakes."

"Yeah but I don't know. It's hard to forgive myself for acting that way when it really just got me here. I should've listened to you."

"You are your own person. You can make decisions on your own."

"Just haven't been the right ones."

"Well, you just learn from them. Don't we all? A bad day on the court doesn't mean I'm just going to dwell on it. I'll figure out what went wrong so I can fix it and do better in games down the road, you know?" He shrugged. "That's just how life works."

"Yeah that's true." She looked down at her hands. "I just feel terrible. The reason why I'm here is because of my decisions. Not you."

"I still could've done better."

"Wardell, stop it." She pouted. "You're so good to me that sometimes, I don't even know if I deserve you."

"Don't say that, baby."

"You've been beating yourself up because you keep thinking the whole reason why I'm here is because you weren't there to protect me. You didn't do this or that. But it's really on me and my stupidity." She said as the tears began to fall.

"Aw come on." He held onto her hand as he planted a kiss on the top. "Quit talking about it like that, Heart."

"I can't have you blaming yourself."

"I still made mistakes I wasn't too proud of. I could've easily avoided some things." He shrugged again. "Like I said, we're all human. Can't be perfect all the time." He chuckled after a brief pause. "Although, you're pretty perfect." He wiggled his eyebrows, making her crack a smile.

"I'm sorry for everything, okay?"

"It's alright sweetheart, don't apologize anymore. I know you are. But it's easier to just move on and work on bettering things, especially for you." She smiled.

"I miss home."

"And home misses you too. What are you going to do once we're out of here?"

"You want the truth?"

"Yes."

"I want to go home. I want to work with Christen. I want to be in walking distance of Logan. I want to be able to see you every chance I get. That's what I want."

"Well, we can make that happen now can we?" Steph smiled as he lightly pinched her cheek. "But. I do have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?"

"Yeah, for when we're out of here."

"What are you up to now, Wardell?" She chuckled.

"Would you be my date?"

"Where are we going?"

"Here we go with the questions again, huh?" Heart laughed. "Trust me, sweetheart. You'll love it. Unless you really don't want to be my date, I guess I can go alone.."

"Of course I'll be your date."

"Nice. I still got it huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows once again, making Heart playfully push him. As the laughter died down, she smiled and kept her eye contact with Stephen. Looking into his eyes, she remembered every reason why she fell in love with him. Why she was with him.

Why he was the one for her.

"Thank you. For everything." She said softly.

"Of course. You're everything to me, remember?" She cupped his cheek and caressed it with her thumb.

"You're amazing. I really just can't even begin with how good you are to me."

"Anything to make you happy."

"I love you, Wardell."

"I love you, too." He smiled before planting a deep kiss on her lips. "More than anything, alright?" He said lowly as he pulled away. He leaned in to give her another kiss before smiling and pulling up his laptop screen.

He couldn't wait to reveal the surprise & make things better. He knew she'd enjoy it.

But most of all, he just wanted to spend time with her in a positive atmosphere. He loved that girl so much that he needed to find a somewhat easy, quick cure for what she's been through.

& He knew just the thing.