NOBODY KNOWS THE PAIN ( Aiden)

[stephanie michelle davis]

It had been almost an entire week since Stephanie and Aiden had that talk at the hospital and in the car, and since then Stephanie had seen no reason to get ahold of him. She had taken her prescription like she was supposed to, but she only slowed a few things down when it came to soccer. Instead of running for three miles she would only run for two, she seemed that was a damn good slowing point for her. Her three mile runs meant nothing these days though, she would have to stop and take breaks here and then instead of pushing right to the end like before. She could not understand what had been happening to her, she was somewhat pissed that things were not getting better for herself. The pain had became less though, a good thing as far as she had been concerned, but at the same time her knee would randomly just feel numb sometimes when she had stressed it too much. She figured it had just been a pulled muscle or something though, maybe in the end that is all this entire thing would be. It made sense and it was something that was easily fixed with rest, the dreaded word Stephanie usually steered clear of.

Today instead of running around the city she decided to go to the field and do some laps. The field had been secluded enough that nobody would see her, she was pretty sure the coach wasn't going to show up since it had been his day off, so instead of having to wear sweats she could wear shorts with her brace without worries. If anyone were to ask a question she would figure out a good lie, maybe that she was seeing how it felt incase she wanted to play in a game with it to make the other team think she had a problem. She could fool them long enough to score and kick their asses on the scoreboard. Yeah, that sounded like a good lie, maybe she could get her coach to believe her if she needed it during a game. She did wear a pair of baggy shorts she would usually practice in so almost all of the brace had been hidden since her shorts swung below her knees, and her shirt had been a little loose so she could breathe and move freely. She had her cleats on so she could dig into the ground better and move faster across the field, and her hair had been tied back in a ponytail so she did not have to bother with it.

She took a deep breathe as she started to jog from her spot on the field where she had just gotten done stretching. She would not run too fast for starters because she had to warm her knee up, but as she made her first pass around the goal posts she could feel herself picking up speed slightly so she could get a good run across the field. She could feel her knee already stretching as she would push each foot off of the ground hard as she ran, but so far it had been great considering it had almost felt normal for a moment. This is how it always happened though, it would feel fine at the start and out of nowhere the pain would wash over her. She was deep in concentration as she made her pass of the posts at the far end of the field, she was getting good speed and distance in such a short time. She just hoped she wouldn't have to spend the rest of the night nursing her knee back to health, an ice pack and movie were not her idea of a good night.

[aiden james wright]

Aiden still carried the anger with him for the past week. He had been relentless on his teammates asking basically perfection from them. Every mistake he would get in their face and have them running laps. This was his team and nothing could go wrong. The guys may hate him now but in the locker room they respected him and even hung out with him outside of practice. The coach had talked to him about toning it down or trying to figure out what was driving him crazy. He said it was nothing and stormed out of his office. He had been more than quiet in his classes and his professors even tried to pry him to see what was wrong. He wouldn't tell anyone. He couldn't tell anyone. He decided to deal with his anger today he could go and kick the ball around and drive his body to exhaustion and just go and lay back down at his apartment and do it all again. He had been waiting for Steph to call yet her heard nothing and that just angered him more.

He threw on his under armor shirt and some soccer shorts and cleats. He jogged out to the field at a quick pace the faster he went the less time he had to think about anything else except the pace of his breath. He jogged three miles to get to the field and was just starting to break a sweat as he reached the bleachers. He heard footsteps out on the field it was easy to tell when no one was there and when someone was. He decided to not impose right away and watch whoever it was that was taking their initiative. If it was someone from his team he would definitely give them praise and then drive them hard again because he wasn't the nicest guy on the field lately. He wanted an undefeated season again this year. He had too look good for the pros.

As he reached the bleachers a lump formed in his throat. It was Stephanie Davis. He leaned against the lower railing as she was running faster and faster. He sighed as he placed his chin down on his arms that were against the railing. He watched her knee and noticed at every step when the shorts rode up just a bit he could see the brace on her knee. This girl was going to drive him crazy. She shouldn't be out there pushing herself that hard and she knew it. He couldn't tell her that though because there goes another week without her. He liked seeing her right now but not he did not like how she was disregarding probably doctor's advice and any common sense. He watched her some more not wanting to interrupt just yet so he stayed silent hoping she would notice him.

[stephanie michelle davis]

Stephanie pushed herself faster as she could see the posts coming into view, her body dropping lower towards the ground as she bolted towards the goal. She had to push herself to the breaking point, only then would she know just what she could do. She was about halfway across the field when she was flat out, her legs pushing hard against the earth and just as she got to the post she felt that first initial shot of pain go up through her leg into her side. She stopped her dead sprint as she leaned against the post trying to get the pain to stop, and luckily after a few seconds it did sort of dull from the pounding to a slight ache. She decided she was going to calm down for a little while as she turned back towards the bench letting her body limp some so she did not put much more strain on her knee anymore.

She was almost to her water bottle that had been sitting on the players bench when she looked up and noticed that ever familiar face of Aiden's over at the bleachers. She let out a sigh, now she was sure he was going to holler at her for running around when she should be in bed. Stephanie could not relax, she never understood the meaning of the word and hated being cooped up in her room all of the time. She could not just ignore him though so instead she grabbed her bottle and walked over, the limp disappearing so she would not show him that she had been in slight pain. "What brings you out here? Didn't you just have practice last night? I thought you'd take a break, relax some." She said that last part with a little harshness in her voice considering that is what he had been telling her to do. "Or are you here to keep watch over me and make sure I take an easy?" She was jumping to conclusions, he might not have been there for her at all but she had no idea.

She let out a groan and shook her head looking up at him. "I am sorry, I shouldn't be talking to you like that. I just have had a lot of things going on so please don't mind me, what are you doing here today though?" She asked curiously shifting her weight so she wasn't on that knee as she put her hand on her side looking at him curiously. She had heard from a few of the guys on the team about how much of a bastard he had been during the past week, she had known it was her fault but she could not help herself. What's done was done and there was nothing she could do to change that, well saying sorry might help but she just couldn't. "What are you doing to the guys on the team? Brad's been calling me after every practice complaining about how you're running them into the ground. He said something about one kid actually throwing up because he had been worked so hard, but I can't believe everything that he says because Brad likes to blow things way up, so how about you tell me what is going on." She asked curiously as she looked over at him.

[aiden james wright]

Aiden squeezed his eyes shut as he saw her hit the finish line and lean up against the goal post. It was obvious she was in pain it was written all over her face. He knew he would have never seen that had she been aware he was here. That's why he had decided to stay silent he wanted to know how she was acting in practice and he knew she pushed herself just as hard as she did in practice when she was on her own. He slowly open his eyes to see her getting over to the bench grabbing her water bottle. He watched her even ironically admired her. This girl was so stubborn some times but she was amazing at the same time. Seeing her out on the field always picked up his heart beat. She was a goddess on the field something spectacular that people should feel special to see her play. Well that's how he felt about the whole situation but he was in love with the sport and knew when someone was damn good.

As she spoke out to him he just shook his head and laughed, "Nice Steph real nice." He made sure she could hear him. He just wanted to rub it into her face that she was obviously being overly mean. He hadn't said a word since showing up hell he didn't even know she was here. He hadn't seen her in a week and these were the first words he got to hear? Seemed a bit cruel to him. The last words to her hadn't been harsh ones but she was still carrying anger from his harsh outburst towards her. He bit his tongue though as there were many things he could have said to her but decided to not make this worse than it already was.

As she apologized he just nodded not saying a thing. He then shrugged as she asked why he was here, "I don't think I got enough out of practice last night decided to head back out here and run some more." Sure he had just ran three miles to get here and he would have to run three miles to get back but he definitely saw more running would happen when he decided to step onto the field. As she started to talk about what he had been doing to the guys team he just laughed and shook his head, "Do I ever tell you how to run your team? No, my guys have been slacking since the start of pre-season and they need to see that that's not gonna get us an undefeated season like last year." As she brought up the kid that threw up he smirked, "The freshman couldn't cut it obviously he's gotten better though he actually showed some promise last night. He made it through four miles without throwing up. He might be a good goalie yet."

This freshman was supposed to be the best around. PPU was lucky to get him yet he had never been disciplined. He had gotten off easy and now he saw Aiden as his worst nightmare. A goalie was never supposed to run as hard as the team. Sure he would run about half and then go and work on blocking shots. Though Aiden had been treating him like a midfielder. It was definitely cruel to do so but Aiden hadn't liked the kid's cocky attitude. "Last night we practiced penalty kicks he saved most of them though he start to get cocky and I took my shot and sailed it in easily." Aiden was one of the best PK kickers in the nation, "So he got to run another mile. He'll learn eventually." He said shaking his head. He shouldn't even be disappointed at the freshman he was actually doing amazing and predicted to have a spectacular year.

He knew he was being cruel to his team but they were hardening up. Though he would never be this hard on them had he not been so mad with his current situation with Stephanie. "Is there anything else you would like to know about how I run my practices?" He asked her quirking an eyebrow as she stood before him. He finally hopped over the railing let his feet land softly on the grass. He straightened up and looked over at her crossing his arms across his chest awaiting her answer.

[stephanie michelle davis]

One thing that everyone had known about Stephanie had been that she could hold a grudge with the best of them. Someone could make her mad and years later she could still be fuming about it if she happened to see that person again, and with Aiden it made her even more mad just because he had been someone so special in her life. She wasn't stupid though, she knew what each of his reactions were going to be when she set him off just because she had spent so much time with him throughout her life, but that just never seemed to matter. She flashed him a forced smile when he made his first comment, everyone telling her to relax didn't seem so nice either so at least it was fitting. She just shrugged looking over at him, though she hated being mad at him because he pretty much had been the love of her life. Jeeze she hated being stubborn sometimes, she blamed her brothers for their harsh attitudes being passed down to her.

When he started mouthing off about the team though she just laughed taking a few steps back. "Your team? Since when were you their coach? Last I checked you were just a player, Aiden." She could not believe the stuff that he had been telling her, but she did understand where he had been coming from when he would refer to the team as his. Since he had been the best player on their side the coach would give him special tasks, and if Aiden didn't want to be humilated at game time he had to whip the other players in shape so they could keep up with him. At a time like this though she was more content to point out the fact that he was merely just a player. She had watched a few pre-season games and the guys seemed to do a great job. He was honestly proud about making the freshman puke, and when he mentioned that he was strictly their goalie she just shook her head. "Right, because in a real game he's going to have to run maybe up to where the halfbacks are?" Goalies had to be quick and she could understand having them run as much as the rest of the team just because they were all one unit on the field, but still she could not believe that Aiden had been so cruel just then.

She did laugh when he mentioned the penalty kick, Stephanie could never block one of them and wouldn't even bother trying. He had a good deal of power behind a single kick so she knew better and was thankful she had been on the females team, she would hate to have to go up against him. "Want to know what it sounds like to me?" She asked, arms crossing infront of her chest as she looked at him. "Sounds like you're mad at me and taking it out on the rest of your team. That's really impressive, Aiden. How about you just let it all out on me and be done with it, we can move on and it'll be all in the past?" She was curious to hear what he could have to say or do about all of this. It was at this time that she had been conscious that she had been wearing the brace so she went and moved her hands towards her hips and tugged on her shorts some just to let them hang lower to cover it while she was just standing there.

"Come here, I want to show you something." She told him motioning for him to follow as she walked back out towards the field. She motioned for him to stay by the bench as she made her way over to the painted corner of the field. "See, since the doctors told me I had to cool it i've been thinking." she started as she took a deep breathe and started to run towards the center of the field where there had been a ball just laying there, probably from one of the practices considering she hadn't brought it there. She picked up as much speed as she could to reach the ball as quickly as she could, and when she reached it she tapped it so it would move infront of her. She hurried with it down the field and just as she was getting near the goalies box she picked her good leg up and blasted a shot off towards the post. The ball bounced from the left post and soared back at her, Stephanie taking her good knee to stop it from hitting her in the stomach, and as the ball flew up straight into the air Steph set her shot up, and as the ball fell Stephanie turned to the side and brought her bad leg up off of the ground to power kick the ball into the goal. She loved wearing her cleats because if she had just done that with her sneakers she would have fallen.

It did hurt her knee though, she could feel something in there tugging but it didn't matter. "If I can do stuff like that I should be fine right?" She said putting on a brave face, turns out she had thrown her leg around just a tad too much then usual and now it had been hurting. She would need a pill when she got back to her room, but for now she did not mind. "So I guess that means you don't need to worry about me right? I'm fine, knees as fit as a fiddle." She said looking over at him as she jogged slowly back towards where he stood.

[aiden james wright]

Aiden rolled his eyes at her, "You know exactly what I mean by my team." It was obvious because the woman's team was often referred to as her team. He wasn't going to feel guilty at all for calling it his team. He deserved that right being the captain and having had that title since he was a freshman. He had outdone all the other players when he came to PPU as a freshman and earned that title. He laughed as she pointed out the fact that the goalie wouldn't have to run far, "Well at least he'll be fast to get up there then now won't he?" He wasn't backing down from what he had done. He was too stubborn to do so. Sure he had all done it cause he was angry with Stephanie but that didn't matter. He couldn't take it out on Steph he would feel like an ass. At least this way he could get out all of his anger and make his team better at the same time. Screw what they said about him they would get over it once they got the results they wanted.

As she pointed out why he had been such an ass to his team he looked away from her. He couldn't look her in the eye as she told him exactly how he felt. She knew him all too well and he hated it right now. She could see right through him and there was no hiding the fact that she knew. "I can't do that Steph," he said quietly. He wasn't going to burst out on her again. It scared him the other day when he had done it. It reminded him of his father and he refused to do it again. She didn't deserve no matter how dumb she may be about her knee. He still had yet to look at her he wouldn't look her in the eye.

He was hesitant to follow her but finally did. He dropped his arms to his side as he reached the bench and stood still as she ran out to the middle of the field. He watched her and especially watched her knee. He then moved his eyes to her face to look for any winces of any sort. He knew what to look for he had had a player on his team that ruined his knee cause he was too stubborn to sit. He watched her pull all the moves she had perfected over the years. He crossed his arms as she looked back over at him. He wasn't convinced still, "And you think the coach is gonna be okay with you wearing one of those?" He said pointing to her knee brace and giving her a 'you've got to be kidding me' look. "I can't stop you from doing what you are gonna do Steph but that doesn't mean i'm gonna stop worrying. I care about you too much to do that. I've kept your secret hidden and I don't plan on telling coach. That's on you." He said firmly wanting her to know exactly how things were gonna go.

[stephanie michelle davis]

"You're not like this Aiden, never. I'm not so sure I like this side of you," Aiden had always been so chill it seemed when it came to soccer and his team, he knew his team had been amazing and yet to listen to him talk right now had confused Stephanie. Even if he had been so mad at her why would he take it out on his team? "You better watch yourself, you piss the wrong player off and the damn team could lose on purpose just to get to you." She knew Aiden had thrived for perfection just as much as she had, that is one thing that made these two perfect together, but she also knew that it was not hard to blow a soccer game, especially when he has been making the goalie literally puke during practice. "You need to just calm down and go back to being the captain you used to be, sweet and stern." He had made sure things went smoothly and had been nothing like she was hearing right now.

That seemed the perfect thing to go out on as she walked out, ran, and performed her nice little goal that she had done so many times over. When she made her way back over to him he still hadn't been convinced, and then he asked the question about the brace. She looked down at the black and blue brace that had been situated over her knee. "I don't need it during the game, while i'm practicing it makes me feel better. It keeps things where they're supposed to be and there is less popping and locking up," She was not lying to him at all right now, the brace had been the only thing keeping her from extreme amounts of pain lately. The brace had been quite the life saver. She would get better though, she knew her knee would with just some time. "He lets some of the other players wear their braces, sometimes." She used as a defense even though it had been incredibly weak. She knew she would be screwed when it came down to it, she needed to fix this problem since it seemed to just be getting worse.

At mention of telling her coach she dropped to the ground kicking her legs out and letting her arms lay sprawled out on the ground. She turned her head to the side as she relaxed for a moment, her knee feeling like it had it's own heartbeat with the pounding it was doing down there from her quick little run she had just done. "I'm not going to tell him unless if I absolutely have to, you do understand that right? I am not going to mess up any chances by letting it slip that I am having minor pain, screw that. My dad would freak and it's just something I don't want him to have to go through. Please just stop worrying about me, i'm completely fine. See?" She said putting on a smile as she looked up at him. "Have I told you that I love you yet today?" That had been her lame attempt to change the subject, she hated talking about her knee even though she knew it had been a very important topic.

[aiden james wright]

Aiden knew that what she was saying was right. He had a feeling that his team wouldn't throw a game though. A lot of seniors had their career's riding on it. Sure probably none of them would make it to the pros but with Aiden on the team scouts did come to watch these games. So they had chances to shine and maybe catch someone's attention. "Maybe I can go a bit easier on them...." he said quietly as he didn't look down at her. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction that she knew she was right. He knew he had to tone it down on his teammates. Especially if they were going to be calling Steph complaining about him. He couldn't keep having this conversation with her. When she called him sweet and stern he had a small smile appear on his lips. One of the first kind things she had said to him since their fight a week ago.

"So in a game you're going to take that chance without it? That doesn't seem smart. Why not come up with something so that you can play with it during the game at least? That would definitely make me feel better." The brace did what it was supposed to do for her. It was to minimalism the pain and keep her from truly doing harm. "I don't want to have to carry you off the field cause you can't walk on your knee during a game." He needed her to wear that brace during a game, "And once you get the go ahead that it's better you won't have to play with the brace anymore." He had seen a player's knee come out of place and it was definitely not a pretty sight not to mention it hurt like a bitch.

"Like I said Steph the whole telling coach thing is on you. As well as your father." He knew her dad would be upset had he found out she had been lying to him the whole time too. Steph's dad liked Aiden thankfully but he would never go behind her back to talk to him. That was her decision she was a grown girl. Though he was pretty sure her dad would be mad at him had he found out he knew and hadn't told him. As she told him she loved him he rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah yeah great nice try Steph. I love you which is why I care. Try and imagine you in my shoes and tell me you wouldn't be reacting the same exact way." He said wanting her to try and see how hard this was on him and he wasn't even going through the pain part.

[stephanie michelle davis]

"Your team is fine, you guys could miss an entire weeks practices and still be great." She said truthfully as she looked at him, but she would never wish for there to be an entire week during the season without a practice or the team could get rusty. Soccer in college had been a lot different then it was in high school, harder and more time consuming but still worth every second you get to be on the field wearing the schools jersey. Stephanie had loved the males soccer team though, she had been friends with most all of them, so of course she hated hearing from any of them that Aiden had been taking anger and frustation out on them, both emotions due to Stephanie's stupidity.

Stephanie did have to laugh when he kept saying things about making him feel better, she of course wanted him to feel better but moreso than him she wanted herself to feel better. She wanted her knee to not hurt like hell but since that didn't seem to be happening she had to deal with it one step at a time. "I was thinking I was going to tell the coach that this could be used as a visual to make the other team think that I had busted it up or something, and then having it on I could still perform like usual and they'd be more confused then anything." She shrugged, it had seemed like a good idea in her head at least. The sad part about that? Stephanie had many soccer rivals who would stop at nothing to get her out of the game, so if they were to see her wearing a brace they might just aim for that weak spot knowing they could seriously do damage. It really was that bad between the girls soccer rivals around the state, the pro's only knocked on very few doors so of course each woman had to do whatever possible to get a chance to hear them coming. "We have a game in like a week and a half though, I am hoping things get cleared up before then." She shrugged looking over at him, maybe she could get better and not have to wear this at all.

She rolled her eyes laying on the ground when he talked about both her coach and her father. She shook her head quickly afterwards not wanting to have to go through that, she could only imagine what either of them would say. Her coach had loved her talent and it would feel like she was disappointing him in some way or other. Her father, well that was obvious considering he would not take things well and saying he would freak out would be an understatement. "Coach is looking to be put in the record books, me getting picked up by any team other then for this college would do just that for him. I would be the first female player that had been picked up, to mess his chances up would piss him off wouldn't it?" She asked looking up at him. Stephanie closed her eyes trying to imagine if it had been Aiden with her pain, no of course she could not imagine that. "Nope, can't say that I would be. You're smart enough to take a break and just relax, you'd be fine." She said with a half chuckle looking up at him, of course she would be worried but she could not tell him that. That last sentence had been of a joking manner though, that way he could not go off on her for lying again, something that is becoming easier each and everyday.

[aiden james wright]

"I can't believe that and become complacent Steph we have to keep working hard," He knew she would understand. Complacency killed teams when they got too cocky or just believed they could do it. Aiden wanted perfection at all times because of this is why they were the team they were. The guys knew he may have been hard on them but they would get the results they deserved. If he found out anyone had thrown a game to spite him that would be the end of their career and he would make sure of it. He knew his team was as close to perfection as possible though. They had gotten many comments on it in newspaper articles and such. He was over talking about the way he had been running his team though so he completely ignored anything else she had to say about it.

As he listened to her excuse he knew it would probably work because the coach listened to pretty much anything Steph had to say. She had even helped him out with advice for the males team when Aiden had clouded judgment. He knew about the rivalries and how the knee brace could make her a target which scared him. Those women could be vicious he had seen some pretty nasty stuff. Just last year one of the rivals took out one of Steph's teammates with cleats to her thigh. "If you think coach will believe that then go for it." He nodded knowing both of their games were coming up. He already knew he had to get things prepared for the teams sections to watch each others games. He would also have to get something for Steph for their victory when they won.

He nodded knowing their coach wanted to be remembered and Steph and Aiden was his ticket into those record books. He had been devastated to first learn that Aiden may never walk again. There was a celebration whenever they learned he would be able to walk again. He remembered that day as if it was yesterday. Aiden stepped over her after she had laid down on the ground. He took a seat on the bench just above her head. He placed his elbows on his knees as he looked down at her. Aiden rolled his eyes as she said she wouldn't worry, "Oh well good to know that you wouldn't be worried one bit," he shook his head, "Wait you mean I would be smart enough to relax and not push things? Wow if only other people could be that smart." He looked down at her accusingly. He had said everything in a joking tone though he had been completely serious.

[stephanie michelle davis]

Things were weird with Stephanie and Aiden, they had been practically the same person in two different bodies when it came to soccer. They differed on many other things but based on the game the two both knew exactly what they had to do and when they had to do it, so when she realized he had been dodging and ignoring the rest of what she had to say she just shrugged and took it as somewhat of a defeat. There was no point drilling anything into his head if he wasn't going to listen to her, so instead she just wouldn't waste her breathe. If only he could follow the same and just ignore the knee thing, but she had a hard time believing that would happen considering the degree of seriousness behind it. She nodded when he said she should just do that, "Think it would be a good idea though, wouldn't I just be setting myself up for something?" she asked looking up at him from the ground. She picked her leg up and stretched her foot out towards the sky bending it back and forth so it wouldn't lock up on her after pushing it to extremes just barely.

She watched him as he walked over her and sat on the bench right next to her, his elbows on his knees as he looked down at her, and she just looked back up at him not breaking eye contact with him as he spoke. "Oh hush, you know i'd be worried. I just wouldn't keep talking about it. I just want to get it out of my mind for a little while, you know how damn scary it is to think that this could be something serious enough to end everything for me? I think about it all the time when I am just relaxing, so in the end I just don't relax and try to keep my mind on other things, soccer being the best way to just lose track of time and what is on my mind." There, she had given him a good reason as to why she just could not relax anymore. "I would have asked my boyfriend to hang out and keep me company but he seemed a bit too pissed, so instead I just gave him time to cool down." She had no idea why she was talking about him in the third person when he was right there beside her, but it did work for her end of the conversation.

She knew he had to be serious as he looked down at her and she just groaned, she knew that is what he had wanted and she should at least try it. She stayed silent for a minute just looking up at him before she got this tiny little gleam of a devilish look in her eye. She grinned for a second as she wiggled closer to him having his foot right at her side. She looked at the bench and made sure it had not been too far from the ground, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him but she did want to make a point, and what she was about to do seemed like a good one. She pushed herself up off of the ground and without letting him react and move she went and pushed herself against him wrapping her hands around his sides so she wouldn't hurt herself as she pushed his back right off of the bench letting both of them fall to the ground, Stephanie laughing as she sat on his stomach as his back was now right against the dirt around the bench. "Remember how damn depressed you were when you couldn't walk and were stuck in that chair? Remember how annoyed and aggravated you had gotten knowing that your career had been over until you got better? What makes you so different from me, the first second you could walk you went back on the field even though the doctors told you to take an easy. You could have gotten hurt out there but you didn't care did you? Why set my standards higher, can't you just give me a break?" She asked leaning back against his legs that had sort of hanging out on the top of the bench where he'd once been sitting. "So how about we just drop this and get on with our lives, or you might just have to pay the consequences." She grinned as she tapped her fingertips on his sides looking down at him with a serious expression on her face. She hoped this would keep his mind off of the knee thing, hopefully.

[aiden james wright]

Aiden shrugged as she asked if she would be setting herself up for something, "You know those women better than I do. It would be a good idea in the sense that you wouldn't have to worry about your knee coming out of place." He stated the obvious because the brace could bring even worse things if she wore it but it would keep her knee from getting worse. He wanted her to wear because he knew she wasn't going to go easy on it so the brace would do it's job and keep it in it's place. He kept his eyes on her his knuckles pressing into his face because he let his head hang against his hands. He knew she would be worried he knew she would be doing the exact things he was doing now and he would be reacting the same way she was. Though he couldn't admit that he was way too stubborn to do something like that.

He could begin to understand her reasoning for keeping herself busy he just wish it hadn't been by pushing her body harder. He knew she could have just hung out with him but the past week he had ruined it by blowing up in her face about the whole thing. "Well i'm fine now...," he said even if he hadn't truly been fine and still been pissed. This argument of there's was going up and down they would talk civilly to each other one moment and then yell at each other the next. So he was just preparing himself for it now so he could handle his anger better.

He had spaced out thinking about their upcoming game and how things would go for her while she had gotten her little idea in her head. He took his hands off his legs as she stood up though and he looked at her questioningly. As she threw herself against him he instinctively reacted by wrapping his arms around her to help cushion her fall and make sure she didn't fall off of him. He kept the smile from appearing on his lips as the closeness of them. He fell back wards and caught his breath after hitting the ground with a thud. He looked up at her moving his hands to her thighs as she began to talk. "Because you're you and i'm me," he said smirking as he looked up at her, "It would have been my own damn fault if I had ended my career. I don't want to see yours end for you. You deserve anything good that comes your way which is why I went and met those pro coaches so you could get your foot in the door. I want you to reach your dream and I want to be a part of it." He said quietly becoming serious.

"But I know i've been an ass lately and i'm sorry for that. I can't control what you do so I guess i'm just gonna have to live with it." He sighed as he let his head fall back against the grass. He closed his eyes letting his words even sink in to himself. He knew he had to drop the subject if the two were to be happy around each other again. He reopened them to look at her as he laid comfortably on the ground.

[stephanie michelle davis]

Stephanie nodded, she was thankful that he was better but she still knew his team didn't quite think so. They would all appreciate him when they won their next game with such a high difference in scores, without Aiden around she wondered how far the team could go. They had good offensive players, their defense had been top notch, but together they never seemed to work as one unit. She had gotten to witness this when Aiden had been out because of the wheelchair, and she had hoped the school would never have to deal with such a blow like that. Aiden had only a few more years left at the college so he could hold off on doing something stupid for hopefully that long, the whole army idea having probably been the dumbest thing he could have done in her opinion. Especially because it had brought them apart and she had missed him for so long, and of course coming home the way he did was not the best choice.

She could not stop laughing after she had dropped them both to the ground. She sometimes still worried about his back but lately it had seemed alright so she wasn't too worried about the little fall. It probably wasn't the best thing that she had put her weight against him too giving more weight when it hit the ground, but as she looked down at him and caught the smirk she knew he had been alright. "That's it, just because you're you and i'm me? That is a terrible explanation," She said shaking her head still grinning from ear to ear. It made sense though, even Stephanie seemed more worried about Aiden then she had herself. She could not understand it, and she had to laugh at his next comment. "Well it would be my own damn fault too if I ended my career so see, we're in the same boat now aren't we?" BIG difference though, he couldn't move his lower body and all she had to worry about was her knee being in pain and locking up. He had it a lot worse then her, she could not imagine being in his shoes.

She looked down quietly at him for a minute before putting both of her hands on his chest and leaning down some so she could be closer to his face. "You are lame, you know that?" She asked with a cheesy grin, the fact that he wanted to be there with her as she reached her dream was just so sweet and that made her super happy, but she never had to admit that because they both had known already. Even when they are at each others throats she could never imagine being with anyone else in the world, there was just something about Aiden that made feel like she had been ontop of the world.

"Is that your final answer?" She said with a grin as she looked down at him. She did not want him to give up worrying about her all the time, it was nice to know that he had cared so much about her, but at the same time she did not want him to devote all of his time into her. "See this is comfortable and you want to know, no pain whatsoever." She said with a grin as she looked down at him, having just had a chance to actually have a quick laugh with Aiden she had forgotten about her knee, something that she had wanted from the start. "So when are you going to give me those numbers anyway?'' she asked curiously looking down at him, her hand moving from his chest as she sat back straight up to his stomach so she could drum a random tune against his shirt. She swayed her head from side to side as though she had wanted to look like she had been really into whatever song she had been playing. "So we going to play a pick up game or am I going to just go back to my dorm and pop in a sappy movie?" She asked curiously looking at him.

[aiden james wright]

Aiden laughed with a shrug, "You know it sounded good at a time and still does...well at least to me." He said with a smile as he looked up at her. His hands playing with her shorts a bit to have something to do. His missed being intimate with her for the past week and just plain being with her honestly. He gave her a look that said 'yeah right?', "It's not even close Steph and you know it." They both understood each other never really having to explain themselves unless they just felt like talking some more. They clicked like that which is why they got along so well. He had to thank god that he had so many common talents with the girl because it had allowed him to spend more time with her. He also had gotten lucky at certain points but he was glad to see where he was today.

Aiden tensed up as her hands hit his chest but he quickly loosened up. He grinned up at her as her face got closer. Her lips lingering right there but he decided to hold back for now. This discussion was more important than changing the subject when he had frowned upon her for doing so earlier, "Yeah I might be lame but you love me anyways and that works for me," he smirked smugly. He knew she thought the same way about his dream they both wanted to see each other succeed and be happy which was why they were such a perfect couple. He could see himself with this girl for the rest of his life though he was too afraid to tell her that. He kept that little idea to himself and would say it eventually.

He just laughed as she asked if it was his final answer. He rolled his eyes as she continued to try and pass off that she was okay, "Yeah because you aren't digging your heels into the ground and pushing yourself like earlier. See I wouldn't mind if you just wanted to do things like this and sit around." He said with a grin as he messed with her. He couldn't ask her to give up soccer even for a little bit. They loved the sport too much and understood how it felt to not be on the field. "Well you know i've had these numbers for about a week now but I haven't been able to see my girlfriend what so ever." He wasn't sure why they were talking about each other in third person today but oh well. "Maybe if we go back to your dorm and relax later I can give them to you," he wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively with a smirk playing on his lips. "Going back to your dorm doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. Though I do need to get some running in. Though a forewarning I don't have my car with me I ran here so don't tire yourself out too much unless you want me to carry you back to your dorm." He joked with a grin.

[stephanie michelle davis]

Aiden had been way too damn cocky, anyone could see it, but at the same time he had every right to be so of course Stephanie loved him for it. He had more confidence then most other men his age, so thinking about it she had found it funny how he had hid his feelings for her for so long. A man with so much confidence had been scared of someone like Stephanie? She had to laugh but soon stopped having known it might have looked weird that she was laughing for no apparant reason. "Jeeze you are cocky, you know that?" She asked with a grin as she looked down at him. He was right though, she had loved him even if he had his lame moments. He was just perfect, she couldn't understand why but knew her thoughts and opinion of him would never change. She was happy that her love had been for this man, he deserved so much and Stephanie was glad that she could be the one that made him happiest.

"Wait a second, going back to my dorm? I'm sorry but I can't seem to remember inviting you? Here I thought I was going to walk one way and you'd walk the other, what is all this about you tagging along with me?" She said with a teasing grin, of course he could come back to her room. She was hoping to get out of that room though soon, maybe next year some friends and her could pool their money for an on-campus apartment, those were at least a little larger then the stupid dorms she had to put up with. She had a few friends that would be interested but she had to pick them carefully because for the entire next year they would be living in close contact and she wanted to make sure she could at least get along with them. Sometimes she loved how Aiden had lived off campus, she could head over there sometimes when she just didn't want to be around the college and his place was that escape that she needed.

"Tire myself out, you're kidding right? How about you do me the favor and don't tire yourself out or these guns will have to carry you back to campus." she said raising both arms to show him her muscles, though she hadn't that much to show. Most of her muscle had been in her legs, soccer had a funny way of doing that to a person, and her arms had been mostly tone with just that slight little bump. She was just joking though of course and laughed as she put them down and dropped her lips to his quickly giving him a kiss, something that she had missed for the past week, and as she kissed him she moved her legs so she could pick herself right up and as she did her lips broke contact with his as she winked at him standing up entirely now. "Why did you run all the way here? Were you planning on staying on campus tonight?" She asked curiously, she had remembered the many times she would run from her dorm to his house though, it was not a bad run and the scenery had been beautiful most of the time.

"Think an old man like you could keep up?" She asked watching as he started to get up, but before he had good traction on the ground she blew him a kiss and took off running in a dead sprint towards the goal on the far end of the field from where they had been sitting just barely. She had to laugh even though she knew she would be in pain for this later, but if she had Aiden with her at least he could help nurse her back to health and happiness. He wanted to be there for her so maybe having him around wouldn't be that bad of a thing.