The Other Side *A Blake Griffin FanFic*

The Letter

Brielle sighed unlocking the door to her town home. Her trip to Miami had gone way too fast and it was now time to prepare for the post season. She had stayed in touch with Blake and after the playoff brackets were finally set it was obvious the teams would be playing each other in the second round. She had attempted to make plans with Blake around their series but Blake, not wanting to get ahead of himself and just focus on the first series, promised they would work it out later.

Tonight was game seven for the Clippers and since the Thunder was already done with their opening series Brielle had the night off. Some of the guys were getting together to watch the game and had invited Brielle and she politely declined. She wanted to watch it on her own just in case any questionable comments flew out of her mouth before she had the chance to stop them.

She had ordered Chinese food which she carried in with her and sat on the counter. She walked up the stairs to her bedroom and changed into sweats and threw her hair up in a messy bun before making red way back downstairs and fixing her plate. She sat down on the couch and an envelope on her coffee table caught her eye.

She had lunch with Gail Griffin the previous day and she handed her the envelope as soon as she sat down at the table. She told her it was in a bigger envelope that Blake had sent his parents which contained tickets for their series against OKC should it happen. Not wanting to be rude Brielle took the envelope and just put it in her bag. She had still yet to open it and she hadn't heard from Blake since the lunch date with his mom. She wasn't too surprised about that though. He had a huge game tonight.

She grabbed the envelope and sat her plate down on the coffee table. Glancing up at the TV and seeing Charles Barkley talking about the game which had yet to start she tore into the envelope and pulled out the contents.

It was a letter that Blake had written her. She unfolded it and started reading,

Brie,

I would've just sent this to you but I'm not sure what your address is and I was already sending stuff to mom and dad so I just went with that and hoped they would get this to you. By the time you get this we will either be just ending our series with Golden State or hopefully in the beginning of the OKC series. Hopefully I will be finally seeing you soon. After you didn't text me back while you were in Miami I couldn't sleep thinking about where our conversation was headed and so I thought I would just write it down and hopefully get the balls to send it.

I'm sorry when I left OU things went the way they did. You didn't deserve that and honestly it wasn't great on my end either. I did what I had to do to forget you. Okay that came out wrong. I did what I had to do to move on from wondering what it would feel like to hold you, to touch you, to just be with you. We're friends and I shouldn't have those thoughts but I did. No I do.

Brielle sighed wide eyed sitting the letter down in her lap. She needed a strong drink if she was going to finish this. She looked up at the TV as she got up off the couch and it was a shot of Blake running out onto the court as the lineup was being announced. Yeah she was definitely glad she decided to stay home and watch the game by herself.

She grabbed the wine bottle out of the refrigerator and grabbed a glass out of the cabinet. Filling it half full she placed the bottle back into the refrigerator and grabbed her glass walking back to the couch and grabbing the letter and continued reading.

You're beautiful Brielle Grace Lane. Inside and out. I'm such a dumbass for not saying anything to you before. I think it would've saved me a lot of grief. I would definitely be a different person. You make me want to be a better person. Ironic huh? I have a girlfriend and I'm sitting her pouring out my heart and soul to you. I really should do something about that I know.

I hope I haven't completely ruined our friendship after admitting all of this. Please let me know after you've read this and hopefully it's not awkward. Talk to you soon I hope.

Blake

Brielle folded the letter and put in back in the envelope. She tossed it onto the coffee table and took a big drink from her glass. She looked up in time to see Blake dunking over Stephen Curry. As the camera followed him down the court he wink and pointed at Chris Paul. They were having a phenomenal game already, at least that's what the score indicated. She grabbed her phone and debated back and forth on who she should text first. She had to get her thoughts together before she texted Blake about the letter but she also wanted him to know she read it.

Nice dunk ;) I got the letter and I just read it. I'm not ready to comment on it yet but I wanted you to know I read it.

She sat her phone back on the table and finished off her glass of wine before laying back on the couch and watching the game. She couldn't help but to keep her eyes on a certain curly auburn haired man. For the first time ever she noticed just how good his ass looked in those shorts.

Ugh what am I doing?

**********************************

Blake walked back to the bench and grabbed his towel wiping his face before giving his court side post game interview. The Clippers had just knocked out Golden State and it was almost time to head to Oklahoma for the next series. He answered the standard questions about how the game went and his thoughts on the coming series before running back to the locker room to celebrate with his teammates.

Doc got everyone together and said a few words about how proud he was that they had overcome a rough start to the postseason and started getting them pumped for the OKC.

"We have a tough next series but we've proven we can overcome the adversity. I would steer clear of ESPN after tonight," Doc advised.

"Nah we like being the underdogs," Chris Paul laughed.

"Ready to head home?" Matt Barnes asked hitting Blake's leg with his towel as he walked by.

"Oh yeah," He looked up at him and smiled.

"Time for Momma G's strawberry cake," DJ laughed.

Blake got up from his chair and grabbed his phone. The first thing he saw was a text from his Dad telling him how proud he was and how excited he was to watch him play in Oklahoma. Taylor had texted him too. When he finally got to Brielle's text he sat back down staring at his phone. He was glad she finally read the letter. He knew she had gotten it because his mom told him she gave it to her.

He was hoping she would have more to say, but he couldn't disagree with her, a text wasn't the place to talk about this. They needed to do it in person. Before he could put his phone away and change clothes it started ringing. Kayla.

"Hello?" Blake asked answering it.

"Good game baby," Kayla gushed.

"Yeah wins usually are especially in the playoffs," Blake sighed.

'God I'm such an asshole,' he thought.

"You don't have to be so mean," Kayla whined.

"I'm sorry. I'll be home soon and I will make it up to you. I gotta go I have media obligations," Blake said looking up at a fully dressed Chris Paul who was currently waiting for him.

"I'm looking forward to it," Kayla said hanging up.

"You about done Romeo or should I do it by myself?" Chris smirked.

"I'll be ready in five," Blake said jumping up and running toward the shower.