That's South Side

Chapter 17

"Sorry?" Alinea asked, as her eyebrows came together.

"For everything." Jimmy sighed, bringing himself to look at her. And, that was when Alinea could see it. He really felt bad, maybe more than he should...

"Look," She breathed, leaning towards him a little, "I'm sorry." She shrugged, as he gave her a quizzical look, "I should've just told Taj the truth from the beginning." She admitted.

Though it wasn't Jimmy's place to say anything to Taj, she shouldn't have kept something that big from him. She knew better.

"No," Jimmy shook his head, "I shouldn't of-" He continued.

"Stop," Alinea cut him off, with a reassuring nod, "Jimmy..." She breathed, "I...I forgive you, it wasn't really all your fault." She half smiled.

"I just..." He trailed off, not really knowing what else to say.

"Can we just forget about it?" She asked, "I...I'm not mad at you, really." She promised, looking at the, continuing to grow, bruise on the side of his eye.

Without a second thought, she cupped his face with her hands, gently, and began observing the injury. Jimmy winced a little under her touch.

"Sorry." She whispered, releasing her hands as her eyes met his again.

"No, uh..." He trailed off as she got up from her chair and walked over to the little medical area in the locker room, "It's cool."

"So, Jerry will kill me if I don't actually figure out what happened out there." She called looking for some ice.

"Oh," Jimmy stated, "Me and Damian, just...I don't know." He shrugged.

"Oh, c'mon." Alinea laughed, unconvinced, retrieving the ice and heading back over to him, "You really think I'm gonna believe that?" She asked, pressing the ice to his face, as he brushed her fingers to take over hold of it.

"You really want the truth?" He asked, looking into her eyes again.

"Uh, yeah." She laughed, shaking her head as she noticed the seriousness in his eyes, "What?"

"He was just..." Jimmy sighed, readjusting the ice, "He was sayin some stuff...about you. And, I didn't like it."

"About...me?" Alinea clarified, as Jimmy's eyes wandered the room.

"Yeah." He bit his lip, he really didn't wanna have to repeat the things that got him so fired up in the first place.

"Like what?" She questioned, crossing her arms.

"I really don't wanna say." He sighed, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Jimmy," She said, seriousness in her tone now, "What did he say?"

"He..." Jimmy began, finding the courage to bring his eyes back to hers, "Kept goin on and on about you, and what y'all used to do together...I really don't wanna repeat anything else."

"What an asshole." She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"Not you." She sighed, as she smiled softly, "A long time ago," She began, "Me and him used to have a 'thing'," She explained, "I'm such an idiot."

"Nah," Jimmy shook his head, bringing his hand on to rest on her knee, she immediately looked up at him, "He's a idiot."

"I can't believe you defended me even after what happened earlier..." She trailed off, referring to their earlier meeting with Wade.

"There's something I need to tell you." He blurted, working up the courage to finally get some stuff of his chest.

"What?" She whispered, slightly tilting her head to the side.

"Alinea...I, um, I think I lov-"

"Jimmy!" The teams doctor called, busting through the locker room door, causing Jimmy's hand to immediately go back to his lap. "Oh...Alinea." He began, spotting the girl sitting near Jimmy, "Sorry, I didn't realize you were in here, Jerry's looking for you."

"Oh," Alinea stated, turning her eyes back to Jimmy, who was tongue tied.

She waited, for a moment, to see if maybe he was going to finish that thought. It sounded like he was gonna say...

"Alright, well I can take it from here." The doctor nodded, "Get back out there."

Jimmy just looked at her, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't find words, so Alinea just shrugged, as she got up.

"Yeah, okay." She sighed, "See you guys around." She nodded, and with that she was out the door.