Rivals (Sequel To Pitcher)

Unbearable

Austin walked away with his head hung down, I sighed. 

"Austin! Austin, if you'd just listen, I'm sorry!" My voice was going weak as I called after him. 

"Doesn't matter Ab, you still did it." He shouted back, his voice solemn and monotoned. 

"Where were you then? Huh, why weren't you there when I needed you? If you had been there I wouldn't have seen him, it wouldn't have happened." Austin paused in his steps, then he turned. I could practically see his mind trying to piece together how to speak. 

"I was...I was with...uh I was on an important phone call." 

"Oh really? You expect me to believe that!" 

"Ab, just trust me on this one, ok? You'll understand this in about a week, trust me."  He placed his hand on my chin but  I shook it off. Austin's voice had nearly returned to his usual relatively calm, sweet tone. This caused me to trust him a bit, it was a bit of a relief actually. he was treating me like he typically does. Maybe he was beginning to understand that this was all a mistake. but then he walked away. 

"Ok, I...Austin? Austin, what are you doing walking away from me?" Anger and sorrow filled m eyes as I watched longingly at my boyfriend who had now disappeared from view. "But that was my ride home... how am I supposed to get home?" I just looked at the ground and sighed, praying that one of my teammates would find me and take me home. For the first time today something actually went right, the way I wanted it. Cody walked up to me slowly and placed a hand carefully on my shoulder. 

"Hey." He said quietly, careful not to upset me. 

"Hey." 

"I see you are car-less." 

"Yeah."

"You want me to drop you off?" 

"I guess so." I shrugged and we began to walk silently to his rental. 

"Thanks, by the way. I kinda didn't want to drive home with Austin anyway." It seemed like it had been hours since I last spoke and I promptly realized I had not yet thanked him. 

"No problem, I understand. You can stay fro a bit with Cameron and I if you want." I smiled slightly at his suggestion. It would mean the world to me if I didn't have to face my boyfriend just yet and since I was sharing a hotel room with him, it seemed I would face him soon. But not if I spent a little time in Cameron and Cody's room. 

"That would be nice, thanks." 

"We should probably do something about that lip." Cody motioned towards my swollen lip which I had completely erased from my memory. Now the pain returned, stronger than ever. 

"Ice would do the trick." This wasn't the first time I had gotten myself into a fist fight. So I ironically seemed to be aware of any and all healing tricks for a swollen lip. But for some reason from this fight was much worse than from any other fight. It had become, unbearable. 

The pain filled my body and my heart ached for it all. Aaron hates me. Chances are I probably lost one of my best friends. But above all else, I think I lost my boyfriend. My sweet Louisiana boyfriend who was always there for me when no one else was. But now he had lost any and all trust in me. I wanted to cry at the thought of this. And yet I didn't blame him. I cheated on him with my teammate and his brother who he had turned against for me had been the one to break it to him. A conflict of emotion rose up indeed of me, I was on the verge of tears. Don't cry! You will not cry! Be strong! Act stronger than you feel! 

Cody turned his head in my direction and noticed the uncomfortable look in my eyes, pain. I kept my head down once we stopped and stayed close to Cody's side. Cody Asche, my best friend and maybe just about the only best friend I had at this point, walked me over to his room calmly. Never in my life had I been more thankful for another human being than right now. When we walked in  Cameron was sitting on his bed talking to someone. Then I put together who that someone was, Odubel. Odubel looked the same as usual except for he wasn't smiling like he typically was. He looked frustrated like he lost something. Me? 

"Abby," Odubel began speaking to me calmly. 

"No. No! I wanna leave! Cody let me out!" I tried to push past Cody who was standing in the doorway. He stood strong so I couldn't leave. "Cody I said let me out!" 

"Abigail just tries to speak to him," Cody said pushing me lightly in Cameron and Odubel's direction. 

"Fine. But if he so much as touches me, I'm gonna kill him. Thanks to him, my boyfriend hates me! Thanks to him, the man I wanted to marry has lost all trust in me!" I glared at Odubel and stood in between Cameron and Cody. 

"Abby, I know saying I'm sorry probably won't do much. But I'm sorry. What happened back there was a mistake. I don't know why I did that, I know you're with Austin. That was so fucked up of me to do that to you and put you in that position. If there is anything I can do to save our friendship, I will do it. Please just trust me." Odubel looked at me with that look that made me feel immeadiately guilty for anything i have ever done wrong to him. I rememered the moment I first spotted him in the locker room. He had seemed like a fun person to get to know, dont even start with discussing his laugh. I didnt have feelings for him. There was no physical way I could devople feelings for this energetic Venezuelan center fielder. The main focus was that he seemed like a great friend. Someone who could always keep me happy. A helpful and impotant person to keep around when youre in a high pressure situation like being the first female MLB pitcher. He was the kind of person who is so perfect taht you dont want to lose them. Now I had lost him. 

"Odubel, you cant honestly expect me to be so easily pursuaded into okaying this. you see I really did love Austin and still do. So I am thus very upset over the fact that Austin has lost all trust in me and frankly i dont blame him. However...you have been an incredibly tremendous friend. And I would  forever regret it, if this friendship between us ended. Odubel you have becpme one of teh most important pars of my career, besides Austin of course." Odubel looked excited for a fleet of a moment, perhaps when he first realized that maybe i'd forgive him. "However, this has proved to become a massivev obstacle in my career. I know this sounds stupid, but i thought that maybe, just maybe, Aaron and I stood a chance at replenishing what we had had together not so very long ago. But that is just the hopelessly optimistic side of me, I shoudl never think sucj outrageous things." 

"Abigail, won't you please just forgive me?!" Odubel reached for my hand but I shoved it away, tears filled ythe brims of my eyes. 

"Odubel I'm sorry." I said with my head hung low down. This is what my life had come to, this never ending journey filled with heartbreak and sorrow. As if every step I took was  a mistep. That I had tripped and fallen so much that my legs had began to bleed and I had perhaps just about given up. The pain from the cuts so familiar that I ahd forgotten how much it bugged me. \

Just aas I was beginning my devestatingly heartbreaking walk away, I was pulled back by Cameron. He whispered in my ear to give Odubel a chance and that there wasnt the slifghtest bit of him that didbt regret what he did. I sisghed and faced Odubel.

"I suppose I could let this slide..." Odubel sprinted towards me to hug me. "But only if this never occurrs again." Odubel let go of me and nodded, then he grabbed me again and practically suffocated me in a hug. I laughed and hugged him back. If only I could solve things with Austin now.