imagine this: nba

miss || kevin love

S N E A K P R E V I E W

Kevin pressed his back up against the wall, breathing heavily as he struggled to keep the tears in his eyes.

She's married now — you can't love her, he repeated once more in his head. He repeated it like a mantra; he felt like if he stopped, he'd forget that he can't love her anymore.

Sighing, he opens his eyes and wipes the tears away from his eyes. He's just about to walk back into the ballroom when his daughter's small figure ran past him.

"Saph?" He called out. She ignores her father's call and continues running further.

Lilian stumbled out of the ballroom next to him, concern washing over her face as she looked for the very same girl. "Where is she?"

"She went this way." Kevin grabbed Lilian's hand and tugged her in the direction of which his daughter ran off to.

They climbed up a flight of stairs that eventually led them to the rooftop of the building. Kevin pushed the doors forward and searched frantically for his daughter's small body, eventually finding her looking out at the New York skyline.

It took a while for Kevin to catch on, but he was definitely sure that his daughter was crying. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "Sapphire Marie Love, I haven't seen you cry since you turned 10 after I got you that princess costume."

Lilian stifled a laugh, but quickly swallowed it down when Kevin shot her a stern look. His daughter shook her head and carefully wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

She turned away from the scenery then glanced at the two best friends surrounding her. "Toby kissed me."

"Toby as in the Toby your dad agreed on bringing?" Lilian teased, nudging the 14-year-old slightly with her elbow. The teenager hesitantly nodded, hoping that her father wouldn't overreact.

"What's wrong with that, baby?" Kevin frowned, poking his daughter's cheek as a smile played on his lips.

It seemed just like yesterday when his daughter had just gotten out of the hospital and now she has this best guy friend kissing her during his best friend's wedding.

"Don't you understand?" His daughter's inherited icy blue eyes looked straight into his and she rolled her eyes at Kevin's confused face. "That's like both of you kissing!"

The smiles on both their faces were wiped off as the familiar feeling of anxiousness circled around them again. Kevin sighed audibly and pulled his daughter onto one of the benches, situating her slightly on his lap.

Resting his chin on her shoulder, he spoke: "But you like him, don't you?"

It took a moment, but he finally did get an answer. The answer was a hesitant, but firm yes.

"Sweetheart, I want you to promise me something." Lilian bent forward slightly to look at the teen eye to eye. She caresses her cheek gently then reached up to fix her hair. "If you like someone, you tell them — even if you're scared that it's not the right thing, you say it and you say it loud. Then you go from there. It's obvious that he likes you back, so you gotta give it a try." Lilian glanced at Kevin hesitantly but returned her attention to Sapphire. "Because you might end up regretting that you didn't.

The life inside the young girl's eyes instantly came back as the sound of the door barging open grabbed her attention. "Sapphire?"

Lilian stepped back with a smile as she and Kevin watched his daughter run into her best friend's arms and plant another kiss to his lips.

As the two teenagers walked back down to have another dance, the two grown adults, stayed up in the rooftop. They stood in silence, the cool breeze of New Jersey circulating around them.

She shuddered, making Kevin's lips stretch into a smile. He took his blazer out as fast as he could and placed it over her shoulders.

"Thanks, Kev," she giggled. She leans forward against the railing and looked out at the view. After a few more moments, Kevin finally decided to speak.

"I'm so happy for you," he whispered. Lilian turned her head to look at Kevin, but he just kept his eyes on the setting sun. "You've married a great guy, Lily."

But she wanted to hear something else — something opposite of what he'd just said. She wanted him to tell her that he loves her too; always have and always will. But God forbid this because she's just gotten married a few hours prior to this moment. It broke her knowing she'd just married the wrong guy.

Instead of saying something, she just smiled and looked back out to the scenery as well. "Thanks."

But even God knew that Kevin, as much as he forbid it, wanted to hear her say 'I love you', too.

HOOOOOO I'VE HAD THIS IDEA LIKE FOR FOREVER AND I'M FINALLY GOING TO PUBLISH IT SOMETIME THIS WEEK. AND I DECIDED THAT AFTER ALL THAT SHIT A COUPLE HOURS BACK, I'D GIFT EVERYONE WITH A HALF-HEARTED SNEAK PREVIEW OF MY NEW FIC CALLED 'MISS'. FAM I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS.