Always Fighting // Kyrie Irving

Figure It Out

Sabrina-

Where are you?

I can only stare at the screen in shock for the longest time. Where am I? Aren't I where I'm supposed to be? Where you made it seem like I was supposed to be? In the car, ready to go back to my hotel.

I'm so confused at everything. I thought, I mean, he made it seem like he had no interest in talking to me right now.

"I-i," I stammer out before Dani yanks the phone from my hand to read the message.

"You better move your fricken butt into that stadium before they shut everything down. Now! Go!"

"Come with me? Please?"

"Absolutely not. No." She says firmly, her eyes widening. "I am not going to hover over your shoulder like an overprotective mother. You're doing this by yourself."

"But I don't know what to say!"

"Has that ever been a problem before, Sab? No. No it hasn't. It's not any different now."

"Right but before there wasn't reason to be mad at me," I try to reason my anxiety with Dani, but she won't listen.

"He's obviously not that mad at you if he still cares to see you. Your perfectly fine. I'm giving you three seconds to get your ass out of my car or I'm dragging you into the locker room, leaving you there, and driving away so you have to ride with Kyrie. Understand?"

Reluctantly, I stagger out of the car, grabbing my phone from her hand, and practically run towards the building. It takes awhile, but thanks to my pass, I'm let through. Then it's just about racing down the halls to find Kyrie. I'm stopped once, but again, am let through shortly. This badge works wonders.

I've practically made it to the locker rooms, when Kevin appears, a huge smile on his face.

"Hey, Sab! Haven't seen you in a while!" He's so genuinely happy, I have to stop for a second to talk to him.

"Hey Kev, yeah, it's been a little bit. Congrats on today's win. You all played great!"

"Thanks, on to game seven, right? You'll be there, right? Ky's also so much calmer when you come to games."

That unexpected revelation makes my heart melt a little bit.

"Really? Well, uhm, it was nice to bump into you Kevin, but, uh, would you happen to know where I can find Kyrie?"

He grins devilishly at me. "Last I saw, he was outside the locker room."

"Okay, thanks." I'm slightly confused as to his evil grin, but shake it off and continue down the hall.

Kyrie-

I look down at my phone, expecting a message from her every time it buzzes. Waiting for something simple like "Hey, I got held up. Be there soon." 

After game five, I understand I may have come off a little blunt and hell, maybe I was even a little bit rude, but it was just so much to process without having any time by myself. I was mad that she kept a secret from me mainly because I wouldn't have cared. I don't care. And once I realized that, I was frustrated because that meant she didn't trust me to not lash out. And then once I realized that, I was mad at myself. Somehow, someway, I must have given her an impression that this would be a deal breaker. 

God, I think. I'm an idiot. She came to see me after game five and I did exactly what she thought I would do. So now I have only to wait to see if she will show up or if I scared her too much. 

Besides, I had a lot of time to think about on the plane trip back to Cleveland and I decided that, at least for a little while, I wouldn't say anything about what Klay said. I'd give her an opportunity to tell me herself. It still feels a little weird, though, when she suddenly appears in the hallway. Relief floods through me when I see her. 

She didn't leave. She's still here. Still waiting for me. 

"Hey, Sab," I say, pulling her into a hug. She tentatively wraps her arms around me, like she's scared to give me a hug.

"Hey, Ky," She practically whispers my name as she pulls away. "You won game six."

"And now it's time for the most important game of my life. Game seven's sound cool, but God are they scary, Sab." I laugh lightly.

"I'm sure you'll do amazing."

Everything feels cordial and I hate it. I miss her laughter and her smiles and everything that comes with Sabrina being Sabrina. I open my mouth to say something about Steve, and how I was so stupid, and how I'm so, so very sorry, but shut it when LeBron's advice comes back.

You don't know why she hasn't told you, Kyrie. There may be a reason. At least give her until after the finals. Give her that much.

He's not wrong, and as much as I want to just tell her everything and ask her why she hasn't told me, I understand why that might just push her farther away. And I don't want to lose her again. I can't. So instead I pull her back into my arms, brushing my lips against her forehead.

"You scared me a little bit," I mumble against her hair. She tips her head up, her eyes furrowed.

"And how is that?"

"You didn't come see me after. I thought something might've happened to you." 

She holds her eyes closed for a few seconds, and when she opens them a smile is back on her face. 

"Nope. I'm perfectly fine. Just got held up in... bathroom lines." 

A/N 

Thank you all so much for 20k reads. You guys are amazing! And because you are so amazing (and because I'm really sorry for not updating...) today is a double update! It'll go up one hour from this chapter's publication so stay tuned!!!!