nothing less ➸ demar derozan

sixteen

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Isabella

The game went in our favor but of course DeMar was ejected. The bus ride back to our school was silent, because Coach got onto DeMar in front of everyone. I was in charge of taking him back home but I'm pretty sure I also had to take Reggie and Haro home as well. Neither of them took their car.

"You okay?" I ask DeMar once he loads his duffel bag in the trunk of my car. He still hadn't spoke to me since the kerfuffle. He finally came back from showering in the locker room and getting another talk from his coach. Reggie and Haro would be arriving back at the school any minute now.

DeMar closes the trunk and then embraces me. I was shocked by his actions because there was still people around, and I knew he didn't want them to know we dated yet. Not caring, I hug him back. His sweater gave off this refreshing smell that I took in. I enjoyed that same scent every time I smelt it, because of the comfortability that came with it. It was my home smell.

"You played good," I whisper.

"Are you okay?" He asks and releases me from the hug. He looks at me and I can't help but to notice his brown eyes glisten with the moon. His hands are still around my waist as if I'm going to slip away from him.

"I-I think so," I say dazed in his eyes. "I mean, I'm not hurting...I feel fine. My wrist kind of hurts but not really-"

"I don't care about physical pain, I meant emotionally," he says. "I saw the way you looked. I know that you're hurt with him calling you all that."

"Oh. I think I'll be fine," I say and rub my arms from the cold. The thin jacket that I wore was not coming in handy.

He sighs, "Let me stay over."

"We still have school tomorrow, Rozan. Your sister needs you."

"I got suspended and my mom is in town. She won't leave until...I don't know but a long while," he says. "Just let me stay over."

"I still have school." He shrugs still not caring. I sigh and give in. I just hope he actually wakes me up instead of letting me sleep through. "What are we waiting for?"

"Reggie and Haro," I say and pull out my phone. I wince because I managed to twist my wrist and it hurt. I see a message from Haro saying that him and Reggie are getting dropped off at home by one of the football players. I quickly shoot him a message back. "Nevermind."

I look back at him and he has a face of worry. "You're not okay."

"It's just a sprain. I'll be fine," I stutter. My eyes move from his and I hear him sigh.

"I'll drive," he heads to the driver seat.

I protest, "No, Rozan, I'll drive. I can drive!" I follow behind him and push past him.

"Calm down, Ella," he grabs my forearms gently and holds me back. I continue to fight him and his grip on me begins to harden. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Ella. Stop." I give him one hard shove and he shuffles back hitting his back against the car. As he straightens up, I feel steamy tears forming in my eyes. DeMar is confused. It's evident on his face, because his eyebrows knit and his mouth opens. Instead of asking me what's wrong, he pulls me closer to him. His arms are so tight around me that it's hard to let out a cry.

As much as I hated admitting this, I was hurt. I was hurt with what those boys did to me. I was hurt that I wasn't able to defend myself without DeMar being there. And thoughts of what if he wasn't there roamed my mind. I sob in his chest and constantly pound his chest with my fists. I'm not sure why I do this but it relieves a bit of the pain. I realized that DeMar didn't care who was watching. He just cared about my well-being.