distraction [b. griffin]

eleven

A/N: Here we go! Last chapter before the epilogue my lovelies! Enjoy!

Just a big shoutout to Abriella26, she didn't have to edit my chapter, but she did because she's the realest and amazing. Don't want to get too sappy, but just thank you for always hearing me out about this story. Thanks twinnie! :)

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Alena arrived in the suite, breathing a sigh of relief that she was the first one to arrive. Initially, she wasn't going to go, but Amelia insisted they went. The Clippers were down 2-0 against the Warriors and it wouldn't be a bad thing to watch them play. Amelia has never been to a professional basketball game, so that helped sway Alena a bit.

Amelia was a good friend of Alena's from childhood. Well, that was inaccurate. They weren't that close when they were kids, but they became much closer once Alena was out of her family's influence. It wasn't like her family didn't like Amelia's family, far from that, but they grew up and Alena enjoyed Amelia's company. When they were younger, Alena never really cared much for Amelia because she was a rich kid who didn't like associating with people in a lower class. It was absolutely elitist of her, but she obviously grew out of it. Amelia always made a point to greet her whenever she visited their home with her father, but Alena never tried to reach out to her. However, as she matured, she obviously shed the snobby rich kid attitude and became friends with her.

A familiar face from her past that wasn't far too connected with her family. She knew Amelia was married once before, which caused her to be exiled from her family, so in that aspect, the two were able to relate. However, Amelia was annulled and came back to her family.

"Wow, this is amazing," Amelia was in awe as she looked around the suite. "Is the food free?"

"Yes, I believe it is, and if it isn't, it's on Elijah's card." Alena smirked as she picked a seat on the balcony of the suite. It's been awhile since she was last here, and it was crazy how she was up here now instead of courtside. Though, she preferred it this way, less of a chance for her to run into Blake.

"God, you rich people just live the luxurious life," Amelia sat beside Alena, lounging on the chair.

"You're well off as well," Alena playfully rolled her eyes, checking her phone to see the time. It was seven, the game didn't begin for another thirty minutes, but the players were starting to come out for some warm-ups.

"There are levels, you're on 5 and I'm merely on 2." Amelia teased. "You ready to be in the same room as your sister?"

"It's not a big deal, she wouldn't try talking to me."

"You sure? I know Sophia as well and know how persistent she can be when she wants to make amends."

"Yes, well she knows better than to pester me." Alena knew of Sophia's persistent nature, but the gravity of her actions would keep Sophia at bay. Sophia wasn't going to try and talk to her unless Alena gave her the go-ahead to do so and she appreciated that. She still needed some time and appreciated the space her sister gave her.

"True, you always were able to control Sophia." Alena gave her a questioning look. "Well not control, but she never tried to act up around you."

"I never tried to threaten Sophia, but I think since she respected me she decided not to do anything idiotic around me." Alena sighed. "Well, till recently."

"Will you ever forgive her?"

"She's my sister, of course I will, but for now, what she did is still quite fresh and I much rather give us time to heal." Alena gave her friend a small smile.

"And Blake?"

"Time heals all wounds."

"That is such a cop out."

Alena laughed. "It is not, I'll eventually forgive him, when I'm married with children."

"Just so you won't jump him?" Amelia teased.

"Shut up." Alena laughed once again.

As the two friends caught up, Sophia, Elijah and Andrew came in. Elijah was giving Sophia a pep talk as they made their way up to the suite. Sophia was nervous to be in a non-working environment with her sister, but she knew Alena would never do anything drastic and would act cordial out of respect for their father. Yes, Alena and their father may not be on the best of terms, but Alena has never been disrespectful, no matter how hurt she was.

"Always the punctual one." Elijah ruffled Alena's hair causing the young woman to hiss at him.

"Always the dick," Alena smoothed out her hair. Turning her attention to her father and sister, she simply gave them a small smile before turning her attention back to Amelia.

Sophia tried to return her smile, but Alena had already turned around. She was just trying to be cordial and Sophia was fine with that. Of course, she wasn't going to say that she was happy with the way things were. One day she hoped to fix things, but she knew better than to push Alena. It's not that she was afraid of Alena, she just knew better.

Alena was nervous to be here. It's not like she had a bad feeling, but she felt like there was no way she couldn't run into Blake here. Though, she could always leave before the game ended, but knowing her inner fangirl, it would never let her leave that early. Though she might ignore her inner fangirl and slip out early, so she could guarantee that she wouldn't run into Blake.

"Don't you miss him?" Amelia broke her out of her thoughts.

"Do you miss Kevin?" Alena was referring to Amelia's ex-husband, NBA champion and superstar, Kevin Love. The two were together for quite some time, got married, and got annulled. It was a long story, but they haven't seen one another ever since the annulment was final.

"That's different."

Alena heard the drop in Amelia's tone and immediately frowned. "I'm sorry, that was crossing a line and that's not fair."

"It's fine," Amelia gave her a reassuring smile. "But for the record, I would talk to Kevin. We were kids, our relationship ended eons ago."

"I'm not ready to talk to Blake, I literally told him I love him, and he threw it back in my face by telling me he loves me."

"Blake confessed to you?" Sophia didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when she was heading to her seat, she overheard Alena and before she could stop herself, the words came out.

"Wait, you know?" Alena looked at her sister, actually uttering a word to her sister that wasn't related to business for once in months.

"Shit, I didn't want to eavesdrop, I'm sorry," Sophia gave her a sheepish smile. "But yeah, it wasn't hard to figure out. Blake is a mess without you."

Alena didn't know why, but hearing Sophia say that to her, it just weighed heavy. This was the woman that Blake was supposedly in love with, the one he obsessed over for years, and to hear her say that he was in love with her, it hit her a like truck just how serious Blake may have been. But at the same time, what if they were conspiring behind her back?

That didn't make sense. Yes, these two people hurt her, but it was never to directly cause her pain, at least not for Blake. Sophia did something despicable, but Alena would like to think that her baby sister learned her lesson.

But she chose to remain quiet and turned her eyes back to the basketball court, letting Sophia's words sink in.

Blake was her best friend.

What he said to her was despicable, but she should know how he was. No one could read him better than she could, yet she was so sure that he was lying. But that wasn't the case. Thinking back on her recent sightings of Blake, he didn't look as happy as he usually was. Maybe he was getting by because he had to, but he looked exhausted or was it sadness?

"Lenny," Amelia slightly shook her.

"Huh?"

"Sophia isn't lying you know, I've known Blake's in love with you. That's why I was so surprised when I spotted him with Sophia before." Amelia had known the two for quite some time. They were regulars at her coffee shop, and it always amazed her how enamored Blake was with Alena. He hung on to her every word, and whatever she wanted done, it was done. At first, she thought it was because of Alena's influence over him being the one who ran his life, but it was more than that.

Blake always looked at Alena like she was the reason his life was as amazing as it was. It sounded cliché, she could admit that, but Blake always looked after Alena. Anytime a guy would try to purchase a coffee for her, Blake would interject and she could see how it affected Alena. Her friend appreciated Blake's interjection. Though he didn't do it all the time, Blake knew Alena's type or so he said. Either way, there was something about the two and how well they worked together. It was a synergy, one that reminded her of her relationship with Kevin. But that was a different story altogether.

"What?" Alena gave her a questioning look.

"I can't really explain it, but it's the way someone looks at their significant other, like they make the world go around, hold the sun up, or any other cliché bullshit that romantic films give us," Amelia and Alena laughed. "There was this one time, you were running late because of a meeting across town, and Blake was waiting for you. The way he fretted over your absence, it was understandable, but it was the look he gave you when you came. He didn't even give you shit, he just enveloped you in a hug, kissed your forehead, and showed relief that you finally came."

"That was understandable, I'm hardly late."

"You don't understand, it was the way you basically brought this wave of calmness within him. I always thought that it was a one-sided thing, that it was only you who felt something during your time in college, but when I finally met Blake, it was too obvious."

"I think it's the hopeless romantic in you that's talking."

"And I think it's the stubborn spirit of yours that's holding onto this grudge. It's difficult for you to forgive people, I understand, but this is Blake we're talking about. He talks out of his ass half the fucking time." Amelia placed her hand on Alena's giving it a soft squeeze. "That's why he's bearable because you literally balance him out. You two didn't drift to one another because you were having hardship with your family. It was due to that connection you have. Whenever he's in pain, you are and vice versa. Whatever the other's feeling, you can feel it. It must be killing you knowing how hurt he is over everything that occurred between you two."

"God, why are you being so fucking wise right now," Alena took a deep breath, trying to keep the tears at bay. These past few months have been difficult. Ignoring Blake was a feat for her, something she's doing quite well, but it was getting harder and harder, especially with Blake making his presence known the way he was.

"You may not want to believe he loves you because you know it changes everything. It's not you just loving him from afar, he actually feels something for you and that's just a whole other thing." Amelia looked down at the court and spotted Blake making some lay-ups. "That man loves you, and you would be a fool to let it all go."

"Yeah, I would be."

The game ended with the Clippers coming out on top. Blake was the top scorer with forty points and Alena was over the moon. So much for her plan to leave the game early.

"Alena, you mind going to the bathroom with me?" Amelia questioned as they got ready to leave the suite.

"Sure," Amelia waved goodbye to her father, sister, and Elijah. She appreciated Sophia not conversing with her the whole game. It made her feel more at ease that Sophia seemed to be respecting her request of leaving her alone, even though she never verbally stated it. Her younger sister knew her, so she would stay away.

Once the two were done at the restroom, they made it back out to the hall and were making their way down the stairs. The two heard some commotion behind them, but Alena figured it was a celebrity or whatnot. As the two walked, she noticed Amelia slowing down. Alena looked over at her and found her friend trying to fix her shoes.

"We could stop, you know," Alena teased, halting her movement to let her do her business. "You're wearing slip-on's, how are you struggling right now?" She further teased her friend.

"I like how you're having some fun at the expense of my misery." Amelia fixed her shoes and playfully smacked Alena.

"Every opportunity I get to give you some flack, you know I take it," Alena blew her a kiss.

"Alena!"

Alena froze as she looked at Amelia and was not surprised her mouth wasn't moving.

Amelia didn't sound like Blake.

She turned around, and before she could even say or make sense of anything, Blake's lips were on hers, his hands cupping her face. Her eyes immediately closed, losing herself in the kiss. But before she knew it, Blake pulled away. Opening her eyes, she found Blake looking down at her, his hands still cupping her face.

"That game was for you, baby girl," Blake gave her a quick kiss before walking backwards, giving her this obvious ass smirk. He winked before turning around and running to wherever the hell he came from.

Alena was still too dazed to notice the camera's pointing at her and girls squealing at the Clippers' power forward's sweet gesture towards her. When she finally came around, she looked over at Amelia, who was looking at her in awe.

"Girl, if you don't jump him, the sexual tension is going to kill you." Amelia just had this joyous expression on her face, and Alena was still too damn shocked.

She has never kissed Blake before and just to feel his lips against hers, it was fucking magical. And she hated it. How could she be mad at him after this?

"Glad you took the tickets," she heard Elijah say.

Looking over to where the voice came from, she found her family and Elijah standing outside of the suite, smiles on their faces.

"You set me up." Alena accused. There was no anger in her tone, she was just putting the pieces together. "Holy shit, you set me up."

"Woah, wait, let's not get angry here. I did not set you up." Elijah didn't want to be on Alena's shit list, last thing he fucking wanted. "Sophia and your father set you up." He was pointing fingers, typical Elijah, and Alena couldn't help but smile. "That was some kiss though."

Alena just narrowed her eyes at the three troublemakers in her life. She was annoyed, but at the same time, she couldn't find it in herself to actually be a bitch about the whole ordeal.

"And don't lie, you know you've been dreaming of that kiss for ages." Elijah wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'm going to kill your fiancé." Alena told Sophia, making her younger sister laugh.

"By all means," Sophia gestured towards Elijah. "All yours."

Andrew laughed at his daughters' interaction, missing the two's banter when they were younger. But he knew not to push it.

"This doesn't change a thing," Alena insisted.

"Okay," all four of her companions stated in unison and in the same tone, a tone that indicated they didn't believe her words.

"Honestly, nothing," Alena added.

"Alright, if you say so, but can we go? You promised me a tour of your new place." Amelia tugged on Alena's arm.

"I'm watching you three mischievous people," Alena did appreciate their actions. Things were far from okay between her and her family, but she knew she would have to deal with it some time.

Just not tonight.