BOND

36.

And all the rest, I can see right through

You trust in me and I'll trust you too

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Incessant notifications forced Joey away from the court to the first line of bleachers, where his phone was going off. His Instagram was blowing up and with a jolt he remembered what he had posted before throwing himself into practicing.

Three months of being yours, the caption read.

Elena's comment was right at the top. Ugh, the sweet torture.

He grinned and looked over the photo once more. The boys had been crashing at his house after a few brutal hours of practice and Elena had come over bearing food. One of the boys had nagged off a photo from when he had settled down comfortably, holding onto her.

Coach Harley walked into the court one last time before the match started, just like he always did, to make sure everything was fine. He found Joey shooting hoops, never missing once, just like he knew he would.

Joey didn't need to look over his shoulder to know that Coach Harley was shaking his head at him. He had always drilled in one rule into the boys that they were not to practice on the day of a match, something Joey could never agree with. He needed to take out his nervous energy before the match if he wanted to have a chance at relaxing the other boys.

"Don't tire yourself out," Coach Harley warned him.

"Last one," Joey automatically responded, having done the exact same thing a hundred times now, and let the ball slip through his hands, smirking in satisfaction as it went clean through.

Coach caught the ball before it darted away. "You okay?" he pinned Joey under his parental scrutiny. He looked okay, a little too wired than usual though, but Coach knew exactly who was to thank for that.

Joey shook out his hair to get rid of the sweat, finally taking relaxing breaths, "I'm grand, Coach," he grinned. He took in the dark spots under his eyes, "How are you?"

Coach dribbled the ball between his hands a couple of times before shooting out. "Eliza is growing very fond of me."

Joey waited for him to elaborate because to him it seemed like a good thing.

"Which she expresses in the middle of the night."

"Oh," Joey couldn't help but smile as apprehension dawned. "You know any of us will watch over her anytime you want us to."

Coach quirked an eyebrow, not used to this gracious side of Joey. "You would?"

Joey crinkled his nose, scratching the back of his neck, suddenly bashful, "I don't know how good I'll be at it but, of course I will."

The warning bell rang and Coach shooed Joey off, "Run along, I'll see you in an hour."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Taylor took one glance at Elena's dark blue sweater and white jeans, the school colors, and beamed. "It's such a happy coincidence that your boyfriend's first home match since you two started going out is on the day of your three months anniversary."

Elena rolled her eyes, keeping her almost empty backpack into the locker. They would be attending barely a few if at all any classes. "Monthly anniversaries are just an excuse to act gooey."

Taylor placed a hand across her mouth, shutting her up, "Don't stomp over my feels."

Elena thought over it for a second, and then concluding that it wasn't too kiddish, licked Taylor's palm.