richpez for mae

29

TW BLOOD

The next day, Lauren's mind was preoccupied with the events of the night before with Joey and she couldn't concentrate on anything else. She had had such a good time with him at the cafe, and being that relaxed around him again was something that she had missed so much. But feeling Joey kiss her forehead again and hold her in his arms, even though it was for a short amount of time was hard for her to deal with. She missed him so much, and her having such a reaction to even just a hug from him made her question if she could even be friends with him.

Not being able to hold his hand or kiss him as she wanted to was hurting her internally. She wanted to make things work with Joey and go at a pace that he was comfortable with, but when she didn't even know if the prospect of a relationship was on the table, it made situations like that even harder. She had thought about the hug and the kiss being the way to ease himself back into a relationship with her, but similarly, if he was going to do that with her, couldn't he just say he wanted to give them a second chance?

It was confusing and messy and Lauren wasn't in his brain to know what he was thinking about them and their future, but she wanted to know if there was a future for them.

That was the first time that she had thought about Joey in her volleyball practice. It was usually a space where she left all her problems at the door and committed to the sport, but he had suddenly found a way to get in her head. She grumbled to herself.

She knew that she should be concentrating on the game in front of her, only really paying half attention and just dragging her body along the court for digs. She knew it was unprofessional since she was captain and should be the person in the team that everyone can rely on, so she snapped herself out of it and tried to focus on the game.

As soon as she zoned in on her surroundings, a sudden pain shot across her face. Her eyes grew wide as she had no idea what had just happened, but her head began to throb, gripping at her face. She could hear the ball bouncing gently near her so she knew the ball had hit her in the face, but she had never felt that much pain before from a ball to the face.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a few moments, trying not to cry as the searing pain made her eyes water, but she opened her eyes and wiped them, smiling at the girls around her.

"I'm good!" Lauren tried to reassure them through the few tears that leaked from her eyes, but everyones eyes were on hers, staring in shock.

She heard footsteps quickly make their way over to her as she saw coach Monica hurry over with  worried look on her face.

"Lauren, are you okay?" She heard coach Monica ask her. "Okay someone get some tissues and some ice please?"

Lauren looked down at herself and gasped as she saw the blood gushing down her top and dripping onto the floor from her face. She pressed her fingers lightly just below her nose, looking and realising where the blood was coming from, and she thought she was going to faint.

"Follow me Lauren." Monica smiled gently as she pointed over to the bench at the side of the room. But Lauren was frozen in place.

She had never been the biggest fan of blood. It never usually affected her, but seeing it made her feel very uncomfortable. However, the speed at which the blood was leaving her nose, the headache she had from the ball to the head along with her throbbing nose made her head spin, and she quickly felt very out of breath and light headed.

"I think I'm gonna pass out." Lauren slurred as she saw dots cloud her vision.

"Lauren?" Coach Danny asked as he hurried over to her.

But her coaches voice faded out and her eyes slipped shut, feeling herself fall to the ground.

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