After a seemingly long drive home, Steph got out of his car and walked into the house. He smiled softly as Rocco barked and jumped around his feet, kneeling down to rub the bulldog's head. "At least you'll always be here for me... right, buddy?" Rocco barked and licked Steph's face, pulling a laugh from the man's lips. "Good boy... Sometimes, I think I love you more than Klay." He sighed as his face fell. He rolled his eyes at himself and mentally scolded himself.
'Stop thinking like that, Steph!... You love Klay more than anything and you know it. Stop pretending like you don't.' Rocco whined and looked at Steph with his head cocked to the side. Steph sighed and kissed the top of the dog's head before standing and walking upstairs. It wasn't even that late, it was only 11 pm. Normally, he wouldn't go to sleep until like 2 am, but today was different. He was just mentally and emotionally exhausted, he needed a good night of sleep.
After showering and changing, he flopped down onto the bed and curled up into the comforter. 'If Klay wants to stay in the guest room, so be it. If he wants to sleep in our bedroom with me, he can help himself to his side of the bed... I couldn't care less about whatever he decided to do, at this point.' His jumbled brain couldn't prevent the flurry of negative thoughts that had soon flooded his mind, quickly bringing tears to his eyes.
'How could he do this to me? Why wouldn't he just talk to me if he had all of those doubts? How could he not trust me? Does he trust me, now? Did he ever trust me to begin with? Does he love me? He does, right? But, If he really loved me, wouldn't he have just talked to me about it? Why would he ignore me? Ugh! Damn it, I'm actually crying!... Why do I have to care so much about him when he didn't care about me? ... I just want things to go back to normal... I want to go to sleep, knowing I'll wake up in Klay's arms, not alone in a cold bed.'
His thoughts went on and on, bringing tears to his eyes until they overflowed, spilling onto his cheeks. Shaky sighs and body wracking sobs were emitted from his lips as he snuggled closer to his pillow. He was so tired, but he couldn't fall asleep, his brain wouldn't shut down to let him. It took another hour of crying and Rocco coming up to cuddle with him for Steph to finally be able to sleep.
It wasn't until 2 hours later that Klay came home. Unlike Steph, he had stayed at the arena for all his postgame interviews and the team meeting, where he had to come up with an excuse for why Steph wasn't there. He just lied, saying Steph wasn't feeling well and decided to go home. Nobody believed him, they all knew their starting point guard wouldn't skip out on a meeting even if he felt like he was going to throw up right then and there, but nobody said anything.
Tired, Klay closed the door behind him as he walked inside the house. He was expecting Rocco to be running around and barking, but the house was silent. Klay ascended the stairs and stood in the hallways, debating which room to walk into: their master bedroom or the guest room. Letting out a deep sigh, he walked into the master bedroom, his heart fluttering at the sight in front of him. Steph was bundled up in the blankets, curled in a ball at the very edge of his side of the bed with his back facing Klay, snuggling with Rocco, who was sleeping soundly.
He wandered to the other side of the bed, kneeling in front of his sleeping boyfriend. "Oh, Steph..." He kept his voice at a low whisper so he wouldn't wake either of them up. His heart broke at the obvious tear stains on Steph's cheeks and the puffiness around his eyes. "God, you must've been crying all night...... I'm sorry, baby... I'm so sorry." Sighing, Klay slowly stood from his spot on the floor and went to go wash up and change, before carefully climbing into his side of their bed that he hadn't slept in for 3 weeks.
